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state Normal Manual 

...FOR... 

Public School Teachers, 

..BY.. 
/ 

WILBUR H. BENDER, Ph. B. 

Supervisor 
Advanced Training Department. 

IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, 

Cedar Falls, Iowa. ; .;-■ •: 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL BULLETIN, 



Vol. II. OCTOBER NO. 2. 



1901. 






T-=' ■ 3RARY OF 
Tw'j Ci^ CI* HfcceivED 

NOV, r 1901 


COPY 3. 



Copyright 1901. 
BY WILBUR H. BENDER. 



PREFACE. 



The subject matter of this Bulletin consists of lessons given 
in the Training Department by the Supervisor of the advanced 
grades. They are of a character to be practically helpful not 
only to students who are preparing for public school work, but 
also to teachers who are engaged in the active duties of the pro- 
fession. The points covered are the ones found most likely to 
need attention by superintendents inspecting the management 
and class work of subordinate teachers. The results attained in 
our training school have been so decidedly marked by develop- 
ment of power and efficiency in instruction through the applica- 
tion of those methods, that these lessons have been put into more 
definite form by Supervisor Wilbur H. Bender, and the Normal 
School publishes them in this Bulletin, for the benefit of its 
students, present and prospective, as well as for such public 
schools as may desire the assistance in practical didactics that 
is thus obtainable. It is the intention of the Board of Trustees 
to present from time to time other studies on professional sub- 
jects as contributions to the great work of the public schools. 
It is the province of the Normal School to thus increase its use- 
fulness not only to its students but to the State at large. 

HOMER H.SEERLEY, 

President. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

Normal School Table of Contents. 

PRINCIPLES AND PLANS. 
I. 

A GENERAL. VIEW. 

1 Principles and Practice. 
A 

2. Moving Classes. 

B 

3. Care of Room. 

C 

4. Planning- and Assigning Lessons. 

D 

5. Questioning. 

E 

6. Illustration. 

F 

7. Management. 

G 

8. Discipline. 

H 

9. Manner of Teacher. 

I 

10. Spirit. 

J 

11. Observation. 

K 

12. Miscellaneous. 

II. 
THE LESSON PLAN. 

13. Necessity of Planning. 

14 Teacher's Necessary Knowledge. 

1. Of class. 

2. Of mind. 

3. Of subject. 

4. Of devices. 

15. Lesson Unit. 

16. Plan-Book. 

1. Ge"neral directions. 

2. Parts of plan. 

(a). Aim. 
(b). Preparation, 
(c). Presentation, 
(d). Elaboration, 
(e). Application. 

17. Illustrative Plans. 

1. Reading lesson. 

2. Geography lesson. 

3. History lesson. 

4. Arithmetic lesson. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

III. 
ASSIGNMENT OF LESSONS. 

18. Importance. 

19. The Teacher's Preparation. 

20. Attitude of Class. 

21. Ways of Making, When, Time Taken. 

22. Study Period, Teacher's Manner. 



DEVICES IN TEACHING. 
I. 

THE TEXT-BOOK. 

23. Its Place. 

24. The Good Text-Book. 

1. Considers the child. 

2. Previous work, new work. 

3. Definitions and rules. 

4. References to review topics. 

5. Sections, chapters. 

6. Summaries. 

7. Illustrations. 

8. Preface and suggestions. 

9. Table of contents. 
10. References. 

2.5. In the Hands of the Teacher. 

1. A tool. 

2. Teacher's mastery of book. 

26. Illustrations and Summaries. 

27. Some Mistakes in Use of Text-Books. 

II. 

' QUESTIONING. 

28. Its Place. 

29. Teacher's Comprehension. 

30. Some Means of Improvement. 

31. Purposes. 

32. Good Questions. 

33. Management in Questioning. 

34. The Manner of the Teacher. 

35. Questions and Answers of Pupils. 

III. 
THE ILLUSTRATION. 

36. Value of Illustrations. 

37. Key to Attention. 

38. What It Is. 

39. How Things are Made Clear. 

40. Qualities of Illusti-ations. 

41. How Teachers May Improve. 

42. Devices Used in Illustration. 

43. The Blackboard. 

44. Pictures. Maps, Charts. 



lOAVA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

45. Collecting and Preserving- Illustrative Material. 

46. Making Illustrative Matter for Class Use. 

1. Wall maps or charts. 

(a). Advantages, 
(b). Materials for. 
(c). Means of enlarging, 
(d). Making duplicates, 
(ey. Iviounting. 

2. Material for seat work. 

3. Relief work, solid forms. 

4. The empty crayon box. 



TEACHING IN INTERMEDIATE AND GRAMMAR 

GRADES. 

I. 

READING. 

47. Preparation and Accessories. 

1. Mastery of words. 

2. Sounds and syllables. 

3. Explanation, etymology. 

48. Purpose and Meaning of Whole Selection. 

49. Study of Parts. 

50. Geographical and Historical Settings. 

51. The Teacher's Qualifications. 

1. Incidental. 

2. Immediate. 

52. Thought and Mechanics of Expression. 

53. Questioning Before Reading. 

54. Recognition of Discord — Helps. 

II. 
SPELLING. 

55. Why Mistakes Occur. 

56. Teaching Not Testing Should Prevail. 

57. Sound Not a Correct Guide. 

58. Teaching Through Copying, Testing by Dictation. 

59. Rules, Drills, Inspirational Devices. 

III. 
GEOGRAPHY. 

60. Improvement in Text- Books and Teacher's View. 

61. Value. 

62. Starting Point. 

63. Neglecting Things Previously Taught. 

64. Maps. 

65. The Globe. 

66. Teaching Locality. 

67. Sketching. 

68. The Grographical Reader. 

69. Illustrative Matter. 

70. Types and Correlation. 

71. Aids. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

IV. 
HISTORY. 

72. Making it Real. 

73. The Text-Book and Other Devices. 

1. The text-book. 

2. Other devices. 

(a). Maps. 

(b). Charts. 

(c). Pictures. 

(d). Relics. 

(e). Original source work. 

(f). Pupils' note-books. 

(g). Readings. 

74. How to Work, Drills, Reviews. 

1. A general view. 

2. Balance of topics. 

3. Germ ideas. 

4. Study of documents, election of 1824, state papers. 

5. Topical recitations, pupils' questions. 

6. Biographies. 

7. Campaigns in wars. 

8. Dates, outlines, summary, grouping. 

9. Reviews. 

V. 

ARITHMETIC. 

75. Mechanical and Memory Work. 

76. Terms of Fundamental Operations. 

77. Power to Image Mathematical Magnitudes. 

78. A Pew Suggestions. 

1. Reading and solving problems. 

2. Forms of analysis. 

3. Meeting pupils' difficulties. 

4. Reviews. 

5. Blackboard. 

6. Parts in pupil's work. 

7. Difficulties and superstitions. 

VI. 

PHYSIOLOGY. 

79. The Body. 

80. The Nervous System. 

81. Purpose the Underlying Idea of the Organs of the Body. 

82. Illustrations and Devices. 

LANGUAGE. 

83. The Mechanics of Written Work. 

1. Many diflficulties — capitalization. 

2. Punctuation. 

3. Spelling and grammatical forms. 

4. Heading, margin, indentation. 

5. Sentence sense. 

6. Ordinary written work. 

84. How to Work, Devices. 

1. Having something to say. 



lOAVA STATE NORMAL SCUOOL. 

2. Copying. 

3. Stoi'ies and pictures. 

4. Original written work and corrections. 
85. Technical Grammar. 

1. Early ideas inductively. 

2. Difficulties presented singly. 

3. Purpose of language. 



ORGANIZATION, MANAGEMENT, AND DISCIPLINE. 

I. 

ORGANIZATION. 

86. Organization in General. 

87. The Organization of the School. 

1. A well organized school. 

2. Characteristics of good organizer. 

3. School organization within power of teacher. 

4. Helps. 

II. 
MANAGEMENT. 

88. When Management Begins. 

89. The Teacher's Starting Point. 

1. Confidence of pupils necessary. 

2. Masterfulness. 

90. How Confidence is Won and Retained. 

1. Scholarship. 

(a). Absence of mistakes. 

(b). Sacrifice for it. 

(c). Taste for study. 

(d). Effect on assigning lessons. 

(e). Increases illustrative power. 

(f). Inspires through studious habits. 

(g). Wins co-operation of parents. 

(h). Broadens teacher's view. 

2. Class tactics, teaching ability, devices. 

(a). Tactics, 
(b). Seating of class. 
(c). Definite points in teaching, 
(d). Essentials emphasized, 
(e). Using former knowledge. 

(f). Teacher devising, making illustrative appar- 
atus, 
(g). Careful summaries. 

3. Cultivated and accurate senses. 

(a). Eye. 
(b). Ear. 

4. Determination, balance judgment. 

.5. Force of character and large heart power. 

III. 
DISCIPLINE. 

91. Its Relation to Management. 

92. Why Pupils Injure the School. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. ^ 

1. Childish thoughtlessness. 

2. Disposition to try the teacher. 

93. Qualities and Personal Characteristics of the Good Discipli- 

narian. 

1. Self-control. 

2. Sympathy with childhood. 

3. Self sacrifice. 

4. Courage. 

5. Sense of justice. 

6. Regard for rights and feelings of pupils. 

7. Appreciation of humor. 

8. Appreciation of efforts of pupils. 

9. Strong personality. 

10. Reputation for certainty of punishment. 

11. Optimistic. 

12. Steadiness, firmness, vigilance. 

94. Evidences of the Need of Discipline. 

1. General disorder. 

2. Poor lessons. 

3. Disobedience. 

4. Irsolence. 

95. Means and Methods of Discipline. 

96. The Quotation as a Factor in Discipline. 

97. Democratic or Co-operative School Government. 

1. The plan. 

2. Halls and playrooms. 

3. Teachers, halls, schoolrooms. 

4. Dismissals. 

5. Not "soft" government. 

6. Some conclusions. 



SPIRIT, OBSERVATION, REVIEWS. 
I. 

THE TEACHER'S SPIRIT. 

98. Right Spirit in General. 

99. Toward the Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Routine. 

100. In Relation to Professional Improvement. 

1. Teacher's meetings. 

2. County institute. 

3. Professional reading. 

101. Regard for Compensations. 

1. Salary. 

2. Approval of public. 

3. Professional pride. 

4. Personal growth. 

5. Benefit to pupils. 

102. Spirit Toward Parents and Others. 

1. Toward parents. 

2. Toward janitors. 

3. Toward school officials. 

4. Toward strangers. 

■ 5. Toward unpleasant notes, etc. 

6. In social matters. 



10 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

7. In relations to other teachers. 

8. In respect to the children. 

103. Some General Thoughts. 

II. 

OBSERVATION OR SCHOOL VISITATION. 

104. The Observer or Visitor. 

1. Classes of visitors. 

2. Spirit of observer. 

3. Spectacular work. 

4. Bi'oad view. 

105. Things to be Observed. 

1. General appearance of room. 

2. The teacher. 

3. The pupils. 

4. The recitation. 

III. 
OPENING EXERCISES. 



106. 


Purposes. 




1. 


Unification. 




2. 


Arouse interest. 




3. 


General exercises. 




4. 


Helpful suggestions. 


107. 


Means 


1 and Materials. 




1. 


Stories. 




2. 


Experiments. 




3. 


Current Events. 




4. 


General topics. 




5. 


Committing. 




6. 


Drills. 




7. 


Important persons. 




8. 


Great pictures. 




9. 


Training attention. 




10. 


Music. 



IV. 

READING AND REFERENCES. 

108. The Teacher's Reading. 

109. Reference Books. 

V. 

REVIEWS. 

110. Necessity and Time for Them. 

111. The Nature of Reviews. 

112. Assigning and Conducting. 

VI. 

BECOMING A TEACHER. 

113. Before the First Day of School. 

1. Qualifications required. 

2. The county superintendent. 

3. Securing the school. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 11 

4. Looking up register and the like. 

114. The First Day. 

VII. 
VIEW OF PAST YEAR'S WORK. 

115. Grammar Grades. 

116. Preparatory. 

1. List of text-books used. 

2. Brief outline of work by terms. 



12 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 



PRINCIPLES AND PLANS. 



A General View. 

I.— PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE. 

The following directions and suggestions are given as a means 
of taking a general view of some of the most important elements 
entering into the teacher's work. They are expected to serve, 
within limitations to be sure, in a three-fold capacity. In the first 
place, it is intended that they shall serve as convenient directions 
for the guidance of the efforts of practicians in the training school. 
Secondly, they are to furnish a part of the means for making sug- 
gestive criticism of the work of the teacher in training. This 
criticism is intended to take the form of indications of errors, 
commendation of excellencies, and in pointing out where im- 
provement is evident in the student's work. The third purpose 
of the collection is to group a body of the principles that belon;^ 
with common practice in the schoolroom in a form convenient for 
reference in discussion in general teachers' meetings. Mso pro- 
gressive teachers may find convenient instruments here for self 
measurement. Superintendents and principals will find them con- 
venient in putting on record the estimates of the work of teach 
ers. The groups are not to be looked upon as standing in the 
order of their importance, neither is there any attempt to have 
the items in the various groups take rank of importance. The 
headings are arbitrary and it is readily seen that some that are 
put under a certain head might with equal, or sometimes with 
seeming better propriety, have been put with a different list, so 
closely do they shade into each other. 

(A) 

2.— MOVING CLASSES. 

I. Secure the attention of all by taking position before the 

class or by use of a word if necessary. See that all are prepared 

with books, tablets, pencils, or any other material that may be 

needed in the recitation period. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 13 

2. "Ready" — at this word all should turn for rising. 

3. "Rise" — this means that all should rise and move to plac. 
of recitation. 

Note. — Give proper time after each signal that all may un- 
derstand and thus move systematically. Keep a steady voice and 
a calm exterior from the first even in these apparently small mat- 
ters. 

(B) 

3.— CARE OF THE ROOM. 

I. Accustom yourself to note carefully the condition of the 
floor, desks, and blackboard wnen you take charge of a room. 
If it is not in order put it in that condition by asking pupils to 
pick up from the floor and desks any paper, crayon, or other mis- 
placed articles that mav be found. Erase marks from the board, 
or have one or more pupils do so, before the recitation opens. 
Try to acquire the habit of leaving the room in good order. 

2. Most class exercises require some use of material objects, 
maps, charts, or blackboard if the teaching is well done. Be sure 
to leave all these in good order when the time has expired. 

3. Let each teacher see to it that pencil sharpenings and 
waste paper are not left on the desks or within them, as this is a 
fruitful source of untidiness in schoolrooms. Except in occa- 
sional cases of accident there should be no pencil sharpening dur- 
ing working time. 

4. Pupils should learn to be helpful in caring for the room. 
The class leaving a room at the close of the day's work should 
raise seats and clear desk tops ready for sweeping and dusting. 

(C) 

4.— PLANNING AND ASSIGNING LESSONS. 

1. Have a well defined plan for each lesson you try to pre- 
sent. 

2. Study your class as a group and individual pupils as an 
aid in making plans. 

3. Have the plan call up back work or past experiences as 
a starting point in the new lesson. 



14 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

4. Be careful to have the plan show a good analysis of the 
lesson and the proper relation of points for the best teaching ex 
ercise. 

5. Make provision for topical recitations by individual 
pupils. 

6. Have oral and written summaries at various stages of the 
teaching process. 

7. Plan definitely to have the proper comparisons and con- 
trasts to keep the old ideas well reviewed and make lasting asso 
ciations in the mind of the child. 

8. Make provisions in your plan for having the pupils draw 
conclusions, state definitions, rules, and other general truths ai 
the proper place. 

9. Get your plans down to the actual condition of your 
teaching. 

10. Do not hold so rigidly to the plan that you will not use 
illustrations and other devices that may occur to you in the reci- 
tation period simply because they are not in your plan. 

11. Try to have all plans end in some definite result > and 
have these results in the nature of applications and drills. 

12. Study notes in this bulletin and references in othei 
books on this topic. 

13. Make careful preparation for the assignment of each 
lesson before attempting to assign it. 

14. Be definite and clear in the assignment of work and 
speak quietly and so pointedly that few questions can be asked 
by pupils when you are supposed to have finished. 

15. Take plenty of time for the assignment of lessons. 
Good assignments save time in the next recitation and for all 
time to come. 

16. N^otice that in classes using the text book the aim, most 
of the step of preparation and some of the guides to the pupils' 
study of the part that comes under presentation all appear at the 
time of assignment. 

17. Know the author's plan and lead pupils to see relation 
of each part to the preceding work. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 15 

i8. Look for units and have class see what is to be worked 
out next. 

19. Make use of the table of contents and index and teach 
pupils to use these helps. 

20. Call attention to pictures and other suggestions given 
for illustrating the statements of the book at the time of the as- 
signment. 

21. Be interested in the new lesson and try to interest the 
pupils in it. 

22. Make definite and clear statement of "outside" work. 
Tell pupils just what they are to study from reference books and 
where they may find the books, frequently the pages to be con- 
sulted should be given. 

(D) 
5.— QUESTIONING. 

1. Plan questions thoughtfully. 

2. Have a good reason for the question each time. 

3. Learn the three-fold purpose of questioning. 

4. Study the class and individual pupils as a guide to good- 
questioning. 

5. Know the subject well and the relation of the parts. . 

6. Make a study of the subject of questioning but do not 
allow yourself to rely on questions that may be in the book or 
that you may have prepared previously, following them slavishly 

7. Try to realize that this is a subject in which all teachers 
may improve. 

8. In trying to improve it may be well to write out lists of 
questions but they should not be relied upon for the class room. 

9. Put questions in simple language, make them direct, 
clear and as terse as age of class and nature of work will permit. 

10. Ask questions that require' thought on the part of the 
pupil. 

11. Manage the questioning so that all must be attentive. 

12. There should be a sensible time given for pupils to col- 
lect thought for answering before one is named to answer. 

13. Do not waste time trying to "develop" facts evidently 
not in the mind of anv member of the class. 



16 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

14. Avoid relying upon answers to fnrnisli the key word 
for the next question. 

15. Put hfe and earnestness into your questions. 

16. Show proper sympathy for the pupil in his efiforts to 
answer but do not coach him until he thinks he has done the 
work when you have really done it for him. 

17. Avoid over questioning. Ask as few questions as pos- 
sible and still reach the points of the lesson. 

18. Do not say. "tell me," when questioning the class. It 
is not an exercise conducted between teacher and an individual 
pupil but one in which every member of the class should be con- 
cerned. 

19. Beware of questioning one pupil too long. 

___ 20. Avoid questioning the bright pupil too much. 

21. Be ready to lay aside the text book in your questioning, 
but be sure to be accurate in your knowledge. 

22. Give proper answers to all sensible and relevant ques- 
tions of pupils. 

23. Learn to select what is valuable in pupils' answers 
quickly and to give proper credit for all that is worthy when at- 
tempted in the right spirit. 

(E.) 

6.— ILLUSTRATION. 

1. Study children to learn how to illustrate. 

2. Plan from the subject matter how to illustrate it. 

3. Use simple and well-known circumstances and objects as 
means of illustration. 

4. Do not allow yourself to be afraid to try to illustrate. 

5. Ask for material that may be on hand for illustrative 
purposes. 

6. Try to devise and secure illustrative matter and illustra- 
tions for yourself. 

7. Make your illustrations clear, apt, brief. 

8. LTse illustration, explanation, and definition, but see the 
proper place of each. 

9. Make all possible use of the blackboard so long as it is 
not abused and made the means of the waste of time. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 17 

10. Have pupils do a great deal of illustrating. 

11. Make illustrative maps, charts, outlines and models and 
lead pupils to do likewise. 

12. Endeavor to be able to give variety to the exercises 
without the use of devices that are sensational rather than sen- 
sible. 

13. When you find a good article in paper, magazine, or 
book, use it and leave a record stating where it may be found and 
for what it is valuable so that others may profit by your experi- 
ence. 

(F-) 
7.— MANAGEMENT. 

1. Know what you intend to do. 

2. Seat the reciting class in solid body. 

3. Have desks put in order for the kind of work to be un- 
dertaken. 

4. Be careful to have the whole class and school within 
range of vision. 

5. Recognize and check inattention at once. 

6. Strive to be able to meet the emergency when the unex- 
pected happens. 

7. Sometimes repeating a question is allowable. Try to 
see when this is true. 

8. Exercise tact and good judgment in quieting and lead- 
ing the "confused" pupil. 

9. Be quick in seeing what to do next. 

10. Hold yourself responsible for teaching pupils how to 
study. 

11. Repeating answers of pupils is generally a waste of 
time. Do not form a habit of doing it. 

12. Do not allow pupils to repeat the mistakes of others in 
making corrections. 

13. Have mistakes fall upon the eye and ear of child just as 
little as possible. 

14. Make an efifort to have culminating points of interest in 
the recitation. Avoid the deadening effect of monotony in 
thought and action as well as in voice. 



18 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

15. Aim to have as few words used by teacher and pupil 
as is consistent with vigorous thinking and good EngUsh. 

16. Excuse the reciting pupil properly before giving ques- 
tion and naming another to answer. 

17. Make constant effort to have the exercise call forth vig- 
orous thinking by each child all the time. 

18. Study to recognize the difference between dullness, lazi- 
ness, and ignorance, and manage the child accordingly. 

19. Treat innocent questions, brilliancy, and genuine im- 
pertinence as each would seem to merit when you recognize 
which it is. 

20. Be able to think more rapidly and do better work than 
the pupil is expected to do. 

21. Let the pupil's face give you evidence when the lesson 
is interesting or dull, and manage accordingly. 

22. Be earnest to discover cause of pupil's failures and try 
to bring him up on his weak points. 

23. Hold yourself responsible for the attention of each 
member of the class. 

24. Make the work interesting enough to hold the atten- 
tion of the majority of the class, and then plan for special means 
of reaching the most careless. 

25. Vary the devices and the way in which you do things, 
but remember that learning is done in definite ways applicable 
to all natural minds. 

26. Give directions quietly but very clearly so that little talk- 
ing or asking questions on the part of the pupil may be neces- 
sary. 

27. Have a reason for every thing you do, but constantly 
aim to attain that "teacher instinct" that directs into the right 
way without stopping to reason why. Remember that things do 
not appear alike to all minds in the class. 

28. Do not waste time by having sentences, problems and 
the like read in teaching or application exercises when all mem- 
bers of the class have books open before them. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 19 

(G.) 
8.— DISCIPLINE. 

1. Try to understand why there should be good order in 
your room and class. 

2. When disorder begins to show itself stop and get control 
of yourself and the class. 

3. Give attention to the position of the pupils both in sit- 
ting and in standing to recite. 

4. Say little, say it quietly and calmly, and do a great deal. 

5. Hold yourself and class responsible for good order in 
the halls. 

6. Have pupils assume the attitude of attention as one 
means of getting it. 

7. Have attention and do not waste time in repeating di- 
rections because of inattention or your own previous poor state- 
ment. 

8. By example and precept impress pupils that thinking 
should go before speaking. 

9. Hold books properly, without turning covers back to 
back, and insist that pupils shall do the same. 

10. Prevent unnecessary marking in books. Do not as- 
sign work by having class underline words or write in the books. 

11. Try to prevent pupils from marking desks, partitions, 
or blackboards excepting when they are sent to the board to put 
work on it. 

12. Make a study of the proper control of the pupil who 
talks too much. 

13. Cultivate the habit of prompt response on the part of 
children. 

14. Try to merit and hold the confidence and sympathy of 
your class. 

15. Except in an occasional concert exercise see that pupils 
respond only when named by teacher. 

16. Strive to have answers thoughtful, in good language, 
and pointed. 

17. Encourage originality, but try to have pupils think 
whether the question or matter introduced is relevant before 
giving it to the class. 



20 lOAVA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

i8. See that all written work is neat and in good form. 

19. Be ready to laugh with class when something occur.s 
that is worthy of it, but try to repress the disposition to laugh 
at trifles. 

20. Do not be afraid to acknowledge a mistake to the class, 
but try^to have the mistakes very few. 

21. See pupils about their work when they have been ab- 
sent or are not doing well in their lessons. 

22. Give children all possible credit for right motives. Be 
thoughtful but not hasty to attribute evil intentions in acts done. 

23. Be accurate, thoughtful and let your pupils see that 
you know more than just the matter in hand. 

24. Be just, steady, and firm. 

25. Observe the rights and feelings of pupils and think how 
these questions of discipline appear to them. 

26. Give attention to proper seating as a means of securing 
required order and attention. 

27. When the teacher is known to have studious habits it 
encourages the same in the pupils. 

28. See every thing, but let some things pass forever, and 
others for the time, unnoticed. 

29. Select fundamental evils for attack and do not let little 
matters lead you to become a complaining, nagging teacher. 

30. Correct in private except where the control of the class 
is jeopardized by the delay. 

31. Certainty of correction of one's misdeeds at some time 
is worth more than severity as a preventive. 

32. Let the well-disposed pupils know privately that you 
appreciate their eftorts and helpfulness. 

33. Watch for opportunity to truthfully and frankly com- 
mend the positive efforts at right behavior that even the worst 
child puts forth at times. 

34. Train the eye and ear to see and hear quickly, but al- 
ways with the best judgment possible at command. 

35. Exercise all the faith, hope and charity that is possible 
and still preserve right ideas of justice. 

36. Be sincere and frank, but do not take or allow undue 
privileges in conversation or associations with pupils. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 21 

37. The manners and language of polite society are always 
in place in the school room, and the teacher should endeavor to 
give proper example of this, and then insist upon a like treatment 
from pupils for herself and for other pupils. 

38. Neatness in dress and in work done will be helpful to 
class, and in most communities are now required as essentials in 
a teacher. 

39. Use apt quotations whenever possible thus to reach 
more effectively and pleasantly simple faults of individuals or 
classes. 

40. Keep in mind little things that many pupils do uncon- 
sciously, and when occasion demands a private interview kindly 
point out these things to the pupil, although he may not have 
noticed them himself, or may have thought them unnoticed or 
forgotten. Be ready to admit with the pupil that he probably did 
many of these things, with no intention of evil, but kindly insist 
that they do interfere with the good of the school and eventually 
will lead him into undesirable habits. 

• (H.) 
9.— MANNER OF TEACHER. 

1. Cultivate self-reliance by the exercise of will power and 
assume the manner suggestive of it. 

2. Do not step about nervously and manifest meaningless 
activity. 

3. Avoid the appearance of being annoyed. 

4. Study to keep down the appearance of a nervous, nag- 
ging, worrying, and overly critical disposition. 

5. Assume and maintain proper attitude before the class. 
Stand calmly and with dignity. 

6. Let the face and manner indicate interest in class and 
subject. 

7. Teach earnestly, energetically, and enthusistically, but 
avoid, however, the "high-pressure" manner that wears out the 
teacher and wearies the class. 

8. Cultivate the manner of doing things as though you be- 
lieve in the dignity and worthiness of your occupation. Pupils 
appreciate vim. 



22 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

9. If by nature slow in thinking, moving, and directing the 
work of the class, cultivate a manner of doing your work at what 
seems to you inordinate speed. 

10. The voice should accord with the manner. Avoid the 
following uses of the voice: too high, too low, monotonous and 
expressionless, and the uncertain inflection that indicates want ot 
decision. 

11. Assume a dignity at all times that becomes a teacher, 
but study to overcome diffidence and to avoid the appearance of 
coldness and formality. 

(I.) 

10.— SPIRIT. 

1. Show sympathy for pupils, encourage and commend 
wisely. 

2. Be willing to do more than just what would seem to be 
the legal requirements for good of the pupil or your school. 

3. A spirit that views charitably with proper amount of 
good sense and without undue sentimentality removes much 
friction. 

4. An interest in educational gatherings and local teach- 
ers' meetings is a mark of the proper spirit. 

5. It is the duty of every teacher to have a desire to make 
the calling of teaching one of more worth and dignity in the eyes 
of the community. 

6. True spirit inspires to look for high ideals. 

7. The person with the right spirit finds much compensa- 
tion in the personal growth that comes from the daily contact, 
with children. 

8. The proper spirit leads one to regard teaching as among 
the noblest of callings, and will not allow it to become drudgerv . 

9. Parents have interests and burdens that appeal sensibly 
to the teacher with the right view of her position. 

10. Janitors and others about 'the building will have the 
hearty sympathy of the thoughtful teacher, and will be treated 
accordingly. 

11. Appreciation of the honest, self-sacrificing member of 
the school board is an element in the right spirit of the teacher. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 23 

12, Instead of being annoyed by every caller the cheerful 
spirited person sets about getting something from every one with 
whom he comes in contact. 

13. Patience in answering provoking missives, enduring 
complaints, &c., is not all in the hands of the teacher. Business 
and professional men and others have something of the kind to 
do also, 

14. It is a good thing to be able to eliminate self and to 
deal with all questions officially for good of pupil, class, school, 
community. 

15, The teacher of the right spirit is also a student of the 
child, not as a mystery to be feared or a thing to use experiment- 
ally, but as a fellow being to be respected, loved and led. 

(J.) 
II,— OBSERVATION OF THE TEACHING OF OTHERS. 

1. Assume the attitude of a learner and not that of a critic 
if you would get the most from observation. 

2. Try to see why each move is made by the teacher and 
the pupil, but do not reach definite conclusions until you have 
seen the exercise completed. 

3. Notice errors but do not allow them to monopolize your 
mind so fully that nothing else can find a place. 

4. Try to see what steps are taken of the four suggested in 
the lesson plans. 

5. Avoid the notion that school work to be good must be 
spectacular. An occasional exercise may be "showy," but such 
things long continued lead away from the more serious occupa- 
tions of the school. 

6. Take a broad and generous view of all that you see and 
do not condemn utterly all that at first sight may seem to be bad. 

7. Observe the condition of the room, attitude of pupils and 
such other points as you find applicable from the suggestions 
given in the "general suggestions," 

8. Notice the question of discipline and see where the man- 
agement or instruction could have been made to aid in securing 
better results in that line. 



24 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

9. Do not observe with a view to finding points that are 
valuable to you chiefly because they are about as bad as the 
things you do. 

10. Make specific criticisms and do not allow them to es- 
cape you by trying to remember them without writing them out. 

11. Systematize your suggestions from the observation les- 
sons and be able to give good defense of the position you take. 

(K.) 

12.— MISCELLANEOUS. 

1. Know the names of pupils as soon as possible. Use roU 
book and call the names until all are learned. 

2. Keep record of tardiness in your roll book. 

3. Written reviews come best when topics have been fin- 
ished rather than by time periods. Do not form the habit of 
leaving things to be taken up in the review. The most helpful re- 
views are those that are taken in the way of preparing the mind 
of the pupil for each new lesson daily. 

4. Mark mistakes on all written work returned to the class, 
but put no grades on papers handed to pupils. See that pupils 
do not pass in carelessly prepared papers. 

5. Record your estimate of work of class about twice a 
week, but not during recitation period. Look over the class list 
at your room and determine the relative excellence of the work 
when not concerned with the thought of the individual class ex- 
ercise. Report occasionally at the supervisor's office those doing 
very strong or very poor work. 

6. Make a careful effort to have your pupils realize just 
where their knowledge leaves off and their ignorance begins. 

7. Remember in all teaching that it is possible for the pre- 
sentation to classes to be in opposition to the scientifically logi- 
cal order of considering the topics. In other words, a proper 
recognition of the principle of "point of contact in teaching" very 
often violates the scientific order of classification. A subject 
treated in pedigogical order is not in consequence presented in its 
scientific order. 

8. It is not the purpose of the training school to restrain, 
to discourage, or to crush personality. The effort will be made 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 2d 

to give all suggestions in the kindliest spirit and it is hoped that 
what is done will be understood as suggestive rather than final. 

9. In trying to make criticisms helpful the following points 
may be observed: Do not worry over them, but give them care- 
ful thought, trying to find the remedy that will most readily re- 
move the evil. Do not ignore or forget the help that has been 
offered you. Ask questions about the work when you do not 
understand. Be "professionally inquisitive." Look for general 
principles that form the foundation of a sound practice instead 
of dissipating the energies upon individual difficulties. 

10. By means of the brief statements of the preceding 
pages and through written remarks of their own, practicians will 
file on the desk of the supervisor at the opening of each school 
week the criticism made upon their work of the past week by 
the critic teachers. 

11. In making these notes the following signs will be used: 
The letter at the head of the list is first given, next the Arabic 
numeral of the particular principle in question under that topic, 
and this is to be followed by the Roman numeral I., II., III., or 
IV. The Roman "L" shall signify, "Not strong in this particu • 
lar," 'TL," improving, "HI.," commendable, "IV.," very strong. 
A record made in this way would appear somewhat as follows: 
"D., II, I.," and would be read, "Management in questioning is 
not such as to require the attention of all." If it were reported, 
"D., II, III.," the interpretation should be about like this: 
"Worthy of commendation for ability to secure and hold the at- 
tention of all to the questions asked." Thus in very few signs 
suggestions and criticisms and their transmission can readily be 
made. It is not assumed that every thing can be covered in this 
way, but enough can be done to reduce the writing very mate- 
rially. 



26 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

II. 

The Lesson Plan. 

13.— NECESSITY OF PLANNING. . 

This is not a world of chance. All things are done in ac- 
cordance with some preconceived theory or plan. No architect 
attempts to rear a building without previously considering the 
plans carefully. Any large business corporation must have some 
one to act as the head and make the plans that others then carry 
forward as mere instruments. The teacher is both head and in- 
strument in the operations of the school room and must there- 
fore make and execute plans wisely if best results are to follow. 
Aimless lesson hearing is not teaching. The good teacher now 
carefully looks over his material as embodied in subject matter 
and learner, and prepares to build thoughtfully the proper asso- 
ciations in the mind and life of the child instead of regarding his 
office fulfilled when he has tested what the pupil has done for 
himself in his efforts in the study period. No matter how often 
the subject is recanvassed the growing teacher will have some- 
thing to do each time for his present attainments can not find 
suitable room in last year's plans. Sometimes the veteran might 
succeed without the special plan but he rarely assumes the risk. 
It is usually the novice, the very lazy person, or the exceedingly 
busy one that neglects to equip himself properly and relies on 
the inspiration of the moment. To prepare so well on the sub- 
ject "that it will always be on tap," and then relying on the spon- 
taneity of the class room for the rest is not enough. This is well, 
but not all, for it is not strongly evident that the most scholarly 
person is always the most successful teacher. Think, devise, 
grow. 

The great function of the teacher is to adjust subject matter 
so that the learning mind can make the proper associations in the 
most economical manner, and then to call forth the necessary 
reactions to fasten these associations permanently into a new 
unity. Since the pupil is the intelligent, self-acting being for 
whom all schools exist, it is but sensible that he should be taken 
into the secret of the lesson and allowed to see the aim from his 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. ' 27 

standpoint, not the standpoint of the teacher. This suggests a 
clear statement of an aim or an end to be reached that is within 
the grasp of the class and that the members may carry in mind 
while they study or are making investigations for themselves • 
Old ideas and experiences must be in consciousness so that the 
new may find proper associative materials with which to unite. 
The new must be properly arranged to adjust itself to the condi- 
tion of the mind of the learner most readily. The old and new 
require comparisons and abstractions to be made before they 
reach a final adjustment to each other. Generalizations are the 
next results to be attained. Lastly a full and repeated applica- 
tion or drill must be made that what has been presented may re- 
main permanently and become a part of the mind's later working 
material. There is a best way for all these activities to be con- 
ducted in all cases, and in order that one may approach that best 
way he must think out his line of operation before hand. If this 
frightens the would-be teacher into the notion that thus she will 
become very formal and lose her originality, the reply may well 
be made that there are ten to one more failures in this world be- 
cause of inability to forecast and plan properly than there are 
geniuses crippled by too rigid insistence upon their working at 
first according to some fixed and definite plan. 

14.— WHAT THE TEACHER MUST KNOW IN ORDER 
TO PLAN WELL. 

1. The class as a unit in the grade of work to be done, the 
local environment ,and as much as possible of the home sur- 
roundings, attainments, and individuality of each member of the 
class. 

2. The general movement of the mind in learning and the 
special activities due to varying age and the laws of teaching ap- 
plicable to each stage. 

3. He should know thoroughly the subject he is to teach. 
This he must grasp as to fact and also he should have a realizing 
sense of what it is to do in the developmentof the mind and life 
of the child. 

4. He should have a knowledge of the use of devices in 
teaching in general and a sensible appreciation of the devices and 



~8 ■ low A Sl'ATK NORMAL SCHOOL. 

apparatus necessary for the presentation of the particuhir lesson 
at hand. 

15.— THE LESSON UNIT. 

The units made in most of the late text books are good, but 
the teacher nnist adapt tlicni frequently to the conditions of the 
class. Chapter and topic hcadinos slu)uld ho rocog-nizeil and then 
this matter should be marked oflf into portions that will make the 
class work ctil'ective and not destroy the continuity of the thought 
or introduce points woi closol)- related into the same lesson. A 
complete unit generally covers more matter than can be pre- 
sented in one recitation period. In fact, there are not many reci- 
tation periods when the full operation of the steps previously 
mentioned as the necessary movement of the mind in learning 
can be realized. The teacher in dividing the subject for presenta- 
tion and in making plans should bear in mind the full teaching 
process and proceed each day accordingly until the unit is 
rounded out in the minds of the learners. The grade that is be- 
ing taught or the time at command for the particular class will 
have much to do m determining how much can be done in the 
development of the unit and the recitation periods will be gov- 
erned by this condition of class and school. Also it may be well 
for the teacher to recognize the fact that it depends very much 
on the skill of the teacher as to how many periods nuist be given 
to the topic in the class room. The plan should be made for 
"method wholes." or units of instruction, and the recitations 
then he governed by the conditions confronting" class and teacher. 

JO.— THE PLAN-BOOK. 
I. — General Directions. 
The subject ami the teacher's name should appear on the 
cover of the book with the class and grade indicated. On the 
early pages of the book a brief indication of the luiits to be 
treated during the term is nuule for each month of the time the 
teacher is to hold the class. h\ilU>wing this are to be the plans 
for the "method wholes." or instruction units, as it is proposed 
to give them for the coming week. The recitation periods inten- 
ded to be given to each unit will be indicated, showing what it 
is proposed to do in each period. The plan week is from Tues- 



IOWA STATE NOHINIAL SCHOOL. 29 

day until Tuesday. This makes it possible to use Saturday for 
some of the work and leave the book with the following week's 
plans in the office of the supervisor on Monday morning. Books 
are returned to practicians on Tuesdays, after having;- been read 
by critic teacher. At top of page beginning a unit the dates on 
which the lessons are to be given should appear and also the 
pages of the text covered arc to be indicated. Special teaching 
devices, objects and apparatus used in the class room will be men- 
tioned in their proper places in that part of the recitation move- 
ment where they are to be used. 

2. — Parts of the Plan. 

(a). — The Aim. 

This should be stated to a class using the text book at the 
time of the assignment of the lesson, or when the unit of work is 
laid out. Sub-aims for each day are stated to call attention to 
the particular work of the day in question, The^ should be the 
aim or end to be attained by the pupil and are not to show what 
the exercise is to be, considered from the standpoint of the 
teacher. The statement of the aim suggests to the pupil a result 
to be reached, a problem to be wrought out, or an end to be at- 
tained through both his study and the recitation period. This 
statement should be made in language that is simple, definite, 
concrete and attractive to the pupil without telling in full but 
suggesting the line that the thought is to take. Since this is to be 
helpful to members of the class in their study it should have a 
brief statement of the related points that have been actjuircd in 
their past lessons or from experiences that are familiar. There 
should then be the forward view well stated. Sometimes one 
sentence may do and always the aim should be stated as brieHy 
as the clearness and accuracy of the thought will permit. An 
aim is necessary for the best results and should not be over- 
looked. 

(b). — Introduction, or Preparation of the Pupil's Mind for the 
Advance Lesson. 

This is shown on the plan under two heads standing over 
parallel columns, one termed "matter," the other "method." (For 
the meaning of this arrangement see guide plans that follow this 



30 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

outline). In the "matter" column should appear all the ideas that 
are already in the learner's mind which the teacher thinks should 
be recalled vividly in order that the new may be comprehended 
and proper associations made. In the column of "method" 
should be given the topics, questions, or other devices that the 
instructor would deem sensible to use in arousing these ideas 
anew. 

(c). — Discussion, or the Presentation of the New Points of the 

Lesson. 

As in the introduction the points in the subject matter will 
be kept in column and the devices for teaching in parallel column. 
In this way the notes of the teacher will show what is to be 
taught and how it is proposed to proceed in the process, 
(d). — Comparison, Abstraction, GeneraUzation. — (Elaboration). 

Comparisons between the old and new ideas and among the 
new ones should be shown and the method or devices used in 
making these. Contrasts of unlike features and clear conclu- 
sions as to where the points differ from each other are a neces- 
sary part of the plan here. In all subjects where it is possible 
the general truth in the way of a principle, a definition, or a rule 
should be determined and the pupils then led to see and state it 
for themselves. The plan of the teacher here will require as 
great care as in any part of the teaching process. To lead 
adroitly and tell little in drawing conclusions is a characteristic of 
the master teacher. 

(e). — Application. 

This is done by finding other individual cases that belong in 
the class that has been learned through the study. Finding indi- 
vidual truths that exemplify the conclusions reached. Deter- 
mining the class of separate things by measuring them with the 
definition that has been developed. Solving problems by the 
rule just formulated. Drills. Arranging the old and new points 
in as many series as possible to make all the associations that 
can reasonably be found to hold the new matter sensibly in mind. 
Repeating the clearer ideas of the old as now seen in the light 
of the advanced work. Drawing and other handwork, such as 
relief forms, models, and the like should be used as a means of 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 31 

applying what has been presented. Making outlines of the lead- 
ing topics and subordinate points properly arranged is another 
form. In some branches, such as reading and language, com- 
mitting is a part of this step that is appropriate very often. 

Help in comprehending the purpose of the lesson plan and 
in recognizing the parts essential to its structure may be found in 
the following books, and especially on the pages or in the chap- 
ters named: 

The Method of the Recitation, McMurray, pp. 98-109, and 
Chapters II. and XL; School Management and School Methods, 
Baldwin, Chap. XVIII. ; Philosophy of Teaching, Tompkins, pp. 
29-35; Putnam's Manual of Pedagogics, pp. 187-190; Principles 
and Practice of Teaching and Class Management, Landon, pp. 
52-76, especially 70-76; New Manual of Method. Garlick, pp. 
48-57 and yy, also there is help on special lessons throughout 
the entire discussions of the process of teaching the various 
branches; Essentials of Method, DeGarmo, almost the entire 
book, but especially, Part III., pp. 97-136; Art of Study, Plins- 
dale. 

17.— ILLUSTRATIVE PLANS. 

The following plans have been worked out as suggestions, 
and in no sense as models to be copied. They are based on 
method units and should not be understood as necessarily in- 
tended for one recitation period. The length of recitation period, 
the condition of class, and the skill of the teacher all combine 
to determine how much can be done in one period. The plans 
should be made for the entire unit and indications given as to 
how much of this the teacher thinks he can do each period. Of- 
ten smaller units that can be covere4 in one period can be traced 
through the same steps that the larger units must have, and when 
this is possible it should be done in that way. When a compre- 
hensive aim has been stated for a method unit requiring a number 
of days for full treatment there should be sub-aims given to the 
pupils so that they may see clearly each day what is to be accom- 
plished. 

In the "matter" column there is not much room for origi- 
nality, as the subject imposes its own nature upon the teacher and 



32 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 



class. On the side of "method" the teacher has abundant op- 
portunity to work out original questions, illustrations, and other 
devices that will lead the pupil's mind sensibly along the way the 
subject and mind combined require that it should go. Method 
proper, based as it is on the mind and the matter, is almost a con- 
stant thing; devices may vary, and should do so for dififerent 
classes and localities. It is hoped these plans may aid not only in 
making plans, but in the higher function of execution in the ex- 
ercises of the recitation hour. They should be regarded as illus- 
trations of principles and not as devices to be copied. 

To indicate in outline the steps in such a process as that of 
teaching results in more or less rigidity of relation of topics. All 
sensible teachers realize that the mind follows a certain order in 
learning. These orderly steps glide imperceptibly into each 
other, but in preparation for giving a lesson the teacher must 
recognize each in its proper place and make it as complete as 
possible before leading the pupil into the advance movement. 
At first one learns to do a thing through consciousness of what 
he is doing. In the beginning the teacher is conscious of the 
steps — the pupil need not be so — and gradually the former ac- 
quires power to do the right thing unconsciously, which is the 
thing desired to be reached by this planning. 

I.— READING LESSON. 

THE SANDPIPER.— A POEM BY CELIA THAXTER. 

AIM:— IN A FORMER LESSON WE LEARNED OP AN ISLAND 
LIGHTHOUSE ALONG THE ATLANTIC COAST AND THE LIFE 
OF A LITTLE GIRL THERE. IN THIS POEM WE SHALL BE AL- 
LOWED TO SEE ONE OF HER FEATHERED PLAYMATES OF 
THOSE DAYS AND TO LEARN IN WHAT PARTICULAR THING 
SHE DECIDED SHE AND THE BIRD WERE ALIKE. 

MATTER. METHOD, 

A. — Proparation. A. Preparation. 

Whito and Appledore Islands. 1. Locate these islands on the 

1. Location. 2. The little girl map and by pointing toward them. 

and her family. 3. How they came 2. Who was this little girl and how 

to be there. 4. How the children many children in the family? 3. 

spent their time. 5. The sandpiper. What was her father's business on 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 



33 



(a). Size. (b). How it lives, (c). 
Common birds somewhat like it. 



B. — Presentation. 

I. Characters in the poem. 

Ijittle girl. Sandpiper. The Prov- 
idence that cares for all. 

STANZAS. 
I. On the beach. 

1. Who and what. 

2. Occupation. 

3. Wind and waves. 



II. The weather. 

1. Clouds. 

2. Lighthouses. 

3. Vessels. 



III. The Sandpiper. 

1. His cry. 

2. His courage. 

3. Cause of his confidence. 



IV. The night storm. 

1. Question. 

2. The little girl's condition, 

C. — Comparison, generalization.— 
(Elaboration.) 

1. Picture made in the first 
stanza. 

2. Feeling aroused in the reader. 

3. New parts for mental picture 
from second stanza. 

4. Things mentioned. 

5. Feeling of one there alone. 



the islands? 4. Tell how the chil- 
dren amused themselves. 5. (a). 
Show the class how large you 
think the sandpiper to be. (b). 
Where does it live and what is its 
food likely to be? (c). Name some 
common birds that you think are 
like it. 
B. — Presentation. 

I. Name the living beings men- 
tioned in the poem — seen and un- 
seen. 

STANZAS. 

I. Where are they? 

1. Who and what is men- 
tioned? 

2. What are they doing? 

3. What kind of winds and 
waves ? 

II. What is the condition of the 
weather? 

1. What kind of clouds? 

2. How do the lighthouses 
seem? 

3. What are the vessels doing? 

III. What is the most important 
thing the author talks about in this 
stanza? 

1. What does the little girl no- 
tice of his acts? 2. What shows 
his courage? 3. Why is he so cour- 
ageous? 

IV. What is coming? 

1. What question does the lit- 
tle girl ask? 2. What does she say 
as to her own condition? 

C— Comparison, generalization.— 

(Elaboration.) 

1. What things appear in the 
picture made by the first stanza? 
2. What feelings does this picture 
arouse in you? 3. In what parts 
of the picture do the new things 
mentioned come? 4. What things 
are added? 5. How would one feel 



34 



6. The calmness and confidence 
of the sandpiper. (Third stanza.) 



(Stanza four.) 

7. Shelter for the bird. 

8. Drift-wood fire and protection 
for the little girl. 

9. Change in feeling. 



10. FEELING ONE'S LONELI- 
NESS AND HELPLESSNESS 
LEADS HIM TO REJOICE IN 
THE ASSURANCE OP PROTEC- 
TION. 

11. Lonely beach, wild waves, 
wild winds, tide runs high, sullen 
clouds, scud black and swift, silent 
ghosts, misty shrouds, close-reefed 
vessels fiy, mournful cry, fitful 
song, storm breaks furiously, 
wroth the tempest rushes. 

12. He starts not, has no thought 
of any wrong, fearlessly, stanch 
friends, comrade, my drift-wood 
fire will burn bright, "I do not fear 
for the ***** For are we 
not God's children both, Thou, lit- 
tle sandpiper, and I?" 

13. THERE IS A POWER 
THAT CARES FOR ALL. 

D. — Application. 

"Not a sparrow falleth * ■* ""' 
"God tempers the wind * * • ♦." 
"Take no thought what ye * "* ■*." 

Reading of entire poem, by parts, 
by topics, by stanzas in order. 
Outline as given in other parts of 
plan. Build series of ideas: — we 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

if out there alone and surrounded 
as these two stanzas show? 

6. In the third stanza what 
things is the sandpiper said to do? 
How do you explain his fearless- 
ness with the weather so threaten- 
ing? How would the little girl feel 
without his presence? 

7. What does the writer make us 
feel will happen to the bird? 

8. How did the little girl feel as 
to her own safety? 

9. How do her feelings seem 
now as compared with the feeling 
at the close of the second stanza? 

10. Why does the author create 
this lonely and helpless feeling in 
one and then arouse the more 
hopeful one of confidence in a pro- 
tector? 

11. Make a list of expressions 
found in the poem that have a ten- 
dency to create the feeling of lone- 
liness and fear. 



12. Another throughout the 
poem showing the brighter side of 
fearlessness and rejoicing in hope 
of protection. 

In which part of poem are most 
of each found? 

13. What statement can you 
make that applies this thought of 
protection to all of us at all times? 

D. — Application. 

Give quotations from scripture 
and other sources that will show 
the same thought as conclusion 
reached in poem. Poem was read 
under presentation to develop 
ideas there outlined, but it should 
now be re-read thoughtfully in 
class. Make series of ideas using 



fiit, I gather, waves reach, winds subjects and verbs. Make outlines 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 



35 



rave, tide runs, &c. Bryant's poem, 
"To a Waterfowl." Pictures that 
deepen the impression. 



of entire thought. Read parts at 
least of, "To a Waterfowl." Show 
pictures that will clear up ideas. 
Commit last stanza. 



2.— GEOGRAPHY LESSON. 

THE GREAT BASIN. 

(Complete Geography — Frye, Page 33.) 

AIM:— WE HAVE FOUND THAT HEAT, WIND, AND RAIN- 
FALL ARE THE IMPORTANT ELEMENTS IN MAKING A PRO- 
DUCTIVE COUNTRY, AND HOW THE REGION WEST OF THE 
SIERRA NEVADA AND CASCADE MOUNTAINS IS FAVORED BY 
THESE. IN THE STUDY OP THE GREAT BASIN WE SHALL 
FIND WHAT PRODUCTIVE CONDITIONS IT HAS AND WHY 
THEY ARE SO. 



MATTER. 
A. — Preparation. 
I. Climatic belts. 

1. Heat. 

2. Wind and rainfall. 

3. Change in location of each. 



II. Sierra Nevada Mountains. 

1. Location. 

2. Heat, winds and rainfall on 
the western side of these. 



B. — Presentation. 

The Great Basin. 
1. Location. 



2. Surface. 

(a). Elevation. 

(b). Ridges and valleys. 

(c). Depressions. 



3. Rainfall, 
(a). Amount. 



METHOD. 
A. — Preparation. 

I. Name the chief elements in 
making climate. 1, 2, 3,. From 
map locate heat, wind and rain 
belts in western United States and 
show the changes in location for 
the year. 

II. 1. Locate the Sierra Nevada 
Mountains on the map and by- 
pointing toward them. 2. State 
conditions of heat, winds and rain- 
fall on their western slope with 
reasons for the conditions found. 

B. — Presentation. 

1. Locate the Great Basin:— On 
the continent, in heat belts, in 
wind belts, and by mountain boun- 
daries. Point it out on the relief 
map of North America. Point in 
the direction it is from us. 

2. (a). What is its elevation? 
(b). Where are the ridges and val- 
leys? (c). Where noted depressions ? 
(Blackboard sketch by teacher to 
be followed on paper by pupils). 

3. (a). Tell what you can of the 
peculiarities of the rainfall. 



36 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 



(b). Number and size of rivers 
and lakes and condition of water 
in them. 



Soil. 



5. Products, 
(a). Vegetation or plant life. 

(Irrigation.) 
(b), Mineral. 



6. Population, 
(a). Density in 
(b). Cities. 



reneral. 



C. — Comparison. contrasts, and 
Generalizations. (Elaboration.) 
I. Conditions west of the Sier- 
ras. Winds — moist most of year. 
Heat — modified by ocean. 

Mountains on the east — con- 
dense, store, and send bach: mois- 
ture in streams. Rivers — constant, 
fresh water, flow into lalces or 
other bodies of water. Lakes — 
constant in size, fresh water. Soil 
— fertile in valleys, much land that 
produces without irrigation. Some 
regions irrigated. Vegetation — gen- 



(b). What can you say of the 
number, size and condition of the 
water of the rivers and lakes? 
How do you account for this con- 
dition of the water? What espe- 
cially noted lake in this basin? 
(Display pictures in text and such 
others of the region as can be ob- 
tained). 

4. What is the nature of the 
soil and what is the chief reason 
for its unproductiveness? 

5. (a). What is the general con- 
dition of this region as to plant 
life? What special effort made in 
places to get plant products? 
(Show pictures of irrigation 
ditches. A brief discussion of this 
topic by a pupil who has made 
special preparation for it.) 

(b). What mineral products are 
secured and where are they pro- 
cured? (Display specimens if pos- 
sible to obtain them.) 

6. (a). What is the general con- 
dition as to density of population? 
(b). What is the chief industry on 
which the life of the cities and vil- 
lages is based? Name the city of 
note found in this basin and ex- 
plain why it is here. (Pictures 
again.) 

C. — Comparison, contrasts, and 
Generalizations. (Elaboration.) 
I. Conditions west of the Sier- 
ras. 

Make a statement of these under 
the following heads and set in 
comparison or contrast with them 
the same conditions in the Great 
Basin: Winds, heat, mountains, 
rainfall, rivers, lakes, soil, vegeta- 
tion products, population, cities. 



IOWA 8TATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 



37 



erally abundant. Products — vege- 
table and mineral, but plant life 
quite luxuriant. Population— com- 
paratively dense. Cities— many 
cities of prominence. 

II. In the Great Basin. 

Winds— dry. Heat— intense be- 
cause of radiation from dry land. 
Mountains on the west — cut off 
most of the winds and rob such as 
pass over from the west of the 
greater part of their moisture. 
Rainfall— very light. Rivers— vary 
much in size at different seasons, 
lose themselves in the sand gener- 
ally, liakes— vary in size in differ- 
ent seasons, water salt. Soil — ster- 
ile from lack of moisture. Practi- 
cally all needs irrigation. Vegeta- 
tion — very sparse. Products— chief- 
ly mineral, excepting where irriga- 
tion is in operation. Population- 
sparse, mostly in villages in min- 
ing regions. Cities— just one prom- 
inent city. 

III. Conclusions or Generaliza- 
tions. 

1. THE REGION WEST OF 
THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUN- 
TAINS IS MUCH BETTER. 
ADAPTED TO THE SUPPORT 
OF A LARGE POPULATION 
THAN THE GREAT BASIN RE- 
GION. 

2. THE GREAT BASIN RE- 
GION GIVES LITTLE PROMISE 
OF EVER BEING ABLE TO 
SUPPORT A LARGE CIVILIZED 
POPULATION. WHAT PEOPLE 
LIVE THERE MUST GET THEIR 
PRODUCTS FROM MINES AND 
THROUGH FARMING BY IRRI- 
GATION. THE GREAT WANT 
OF THE BASIN IS MOISTURE. 

3. WHEN EITHER HEAT OR 
MOISTURE IS DEFICIENT IN A 



III. Conclusions or Generaliza- 
tions. 

1. What can you say of the 
country west of the Sierras as a 
home for civilized communities? 



2. State conclusion you would 
make as to the desirability of the 
Great Basin as a home for man 
and how those who do live there 
must get their support. 



3. Deprive a region of either 
heat or moisture and what is true 



38 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 



as to its favorableness for the life 
of civilized people? 

D. — Application. 

Draw map from memory, on pa- 
ler, on the board. Build your 
ideas of the relief of the region 
with paper pulp. Name other sec- 
tions with somewhat similar con- 
ditions, in our own country, in 
other countries. Make a topical 
outline of the points we discussed 
about the Great Basin during this 
recitation. Write in brief, connec- 
ted statements the facts we have 
learned about this section of coun- 
try. Teacher or pupils tell stories 
of difficulties of travelers and early 
settlers in the basin. 



PARTICULAR REGION IT IS 
NOT WELL ADAPTED TO THE 
NEEDS OF CIVILIZED MAN. 
D.— Application. 

Map of region. Relief moulded 
in sand or paper pulp. Other re- 
gions with almost similar condi- 
tions. 

1. East of the Rocky Mountains. 

2. Sahara desert, &c. 
Topical outline of points as made 

under "presentation." 

"The Great Basin lies in the 
western part of North America, in 
the path of the westerlies, in great 
part, and is surrounded by the Col- 
umbia Plateau, Wasatch and Sier- 
ra Nevada mountains. Surface ele- 
vated and rough with many north 
and south ranges of unweathered 
ridges. Death valley is a noted de- 
pression. Moisture bearing winds 
from the west are shut out by the 
mountains, making light rainfall. 
Summers hot. Water in rivers and 
lakes salty. Soil is not productive, 
excepting by irrigation, and few 
plants grow there. Some mineral 
products in the hills. Population 
very light. Salt Lake City near 
Great Salt Lake is the greatest and 
most widely known city in the ba- 
sin. The western slope of the Sier- 
ras is much more productive than 
this region. 

Stories. 

3._UNITED STATES HISTORY. 
PLYMOUTH COLONY. 

(Alontgomery's Leading Facts of American History. — Page 76.) 

AIM:— SO FAR IN OUR STUDY WE HAVE FOUND THE ENG- 
LISH ATTEMPTS AT SETTLEMENT IN AMERICA TO HAVE BEEN 
IN THE SOUTH, AND THAT THE LEADING CAUSE WAS A DE- 
SIRE TO GET GOLD OR OTHER FORMS OP WEALTH WITH 
"WHICH TO RETURN TO LIVE IN ENGLAND. ALSO WE HAVE 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 



39 



SEEN THAT INDUSTRIAL, CONDITIONS AT HOME ENCOUR- 
AGED THIS MOVEMENT TO AMERICA. IN THE STUDY OF 
THIS COLONY WE SHALL FIND STILL OTHER CONDITIONS AT 
HOME AND OTHER MOTIVES OP THE COLONISTS IN COMING 
TO THIS COUNTRY, AND SHALL TRY TO SEE WHAT RESULT- 
ED FROM THEIR EFFORTS. 



MATTER. 
A. — Preparation. 
I. Raleigh's attempts. 

1. Where. Roanoke Is., N. C. 

2. When. 1584-7. 

3. Who came. Wealth seekers. 

4. Why. Desire for wealth. 

5. What resulted from their 
efforts. 



METHOD. 
A.— Preparation. 

I. Who was Raleigh and what 
motives led him to try to send out 
settlers ? 

1. Where were the attempts at 
settlement made? (Show on map 
and point toward the region.) 

2. When was this? What was 
occurring in Europe that hindered 
these efforts? 

3. WTiat class of people came? 
How many different companies? 
4. What was their motive in com- 
ing? 5. Name all the results, good 
or evil, that came from these ef- 
forts. 



II. Settlement of Virginia. 
1. Where. Jamestown, James 
R. 

2.When 1607. 

3. Who came. Mostly as be- 
fore. 

4. Why. Commercial enter- 
prise. 

5. Results of their settlement, 
(a). Permanent settlement, 
(b). Resort for members of 

church of England and Cavaliers. 

(c). Establishment of tobacco 
industry. 

(d). First attempts at represent- 
ative government in America. 

(e). Introduction of slavery. 

(f). Growth of ideas of self 
government from Bacon's rebellion. 



II. Settlement of Virginia. 

1. Show where this settlement 
was made. Map. Point. 2. When? 
3. What classes came? 4. What 
was the leading motive In their 
coming? 5. Name all the results 
of importance that you can. 



40 

B.- 



Presentation. 

Plymouth Colony. 

1. Conditions in England. 

1. Legal requirements cone ein- 
ing the Church of England. 

2. Classes objecting to this 
law. (a). Catholics, (b). Puri- 
tans, (c). Separatists. 

3. Emigration. 

II. Separatists or Pilgrims. 
1. While yet in Europe, 
(a). In Holland, 
(b). Concluding to come to 
America and reasons for it. 

(1). Loss of nationality of their 
children if they stayed. 

(2). Aversion toward the lan- 
guage and customs in Holland. 
(3). Desire to found colony on 
English soil where their views of 
government and religion might 
prevail. 

(c). Determine upon Hudson 
river region, 
(d). Poverty, 
(e). Assistance. 
(1). From English merchants. 
(2). Terms very exacting. 

2. Sailing and settling. 

(a). Where. From Plymouth, 
England to Plymouth Rock, (Cape 
Cod Bay), Mass. 

(b). When — Autumn of year 
1620. 

(c). Who came— About ninety 
Pilgrims with a few servants and 
a few others that joined their 

(d). Why— (Find this under 
concluding to come to America an 1 
reasons for it.) 

3. Events and results. 

(a). The Mayflower compact, 
(b). First houses, first gov- 
ernor, and first winter. 



IOWA STATK NOUMAL SCHOOL. 

B. — Presentation. 



Plymouth Colony. 

I. 1. What law in regard to the 
established church was in force in 
England? 2. What classes ob- 
jected? 3. To what did this law 
and the objections lead? Where 
did they go? 

II. State the views and experi- 
ences that malte these terms appli- 
cable to these people. 

1. (a). When in Europe where 
did they make their home? (b). 
What did they finally decide to do 
and what were their reasons? 



(c). Where did they expect to 
go? Why not go to Virginia Col- 
ony? 

(d). What stood in the way of 
their going? (e). Who gave them 
the necessary help and on what 
terms? 

2. Name ship that came and tel! 
of experiences in getting started. 

(a). Show on map the place of 
starting and of landing. Teachei 
sketch map on board and pupils 
draw pn paper, showing region of 
landing. 

(b). Give year and season of 
their coming, (c). Give your idea 
of the classes and character of 
people that came. (d). State again 
their reasons for coming. 

3. (a). What are the terms ot 
the Mayflower compact and why 

was it made? 

(b). Discuss topically: first 
houses, first governor, first winter. 



IOWA STATIC NORMAL SCHOOL. 



41 



(c). Men and measutes. 
(1). New governor. 
Military leader. 
The town-meeting. 
Indian treaties and trou- 



(2). 
(3). 
(4). 



bles. 



(5). Purchasing their free- 
dom from the English merchants. 
(6). Slow growth. 
(7). Spirit made them gre..t 



C— Comparisons, contrasts, and 
Generalizations. (Elaboration.) 

I. Raleigh's attempts. 
Place— Island south Atlantic 

coast. Climate — Moderate. Leaden- 
in the movement — Raleigh. Con- 
ditions in England — Industrial 
stagnation. Character of colonists 
— Not strong, mostly adventurers. 
Motives — Gold seeking and to re- 
turn to England. Results — Failure 
excepting as it paved the way for 
more successful efforts later. 

II. Virginia Colony. 

1. Inland on James river — 
south. 2. Moderate. 3. London 
Company. 4. Industrial stagna- 
tion and idle discharged soldiers. 
5. Most of tlrem dissolute and un- 
willing to work. 6. For adventure 
and seeking gold with which to re- 
turn to England. 7. Established 
plantation life. For other results 
see same topic for this colony in 
"preparation." 

III. Plymouth Colony. 

1. In the north, on the coast 
but on mainland. 2. Rigorous and 
severe climate. 3. The colonists 
themselves with means .secured by 



(c). (1). Tell all you can of the 
new governor. (2). Who is the 
military leader and what are his 
qualifications for the place? (3). 
Look up and discuss very fully, 
"the town-meeting." (4). What 
treaties were made with the Indi- 
ans and the results of these? 
(.5). How did the colonists get free 
from the English merchants? (6). 
What was the growth of the colony 
and how do you account for it? 
(7). (Jive the things that in your 
estimation make the Pilgrims 
great. 
C— Comparisons, contrasts, and 

Generalizations. (Elaboration.) 

I. Raleigh's attempts. 

Put the colonies studied in the 
preparation and the presentation 
into comparison or contrast under 
the following heads: 1. Place. 
2. Climate. 3. Leaders in the col- 
onizing movement. 4. Conditions 
in England. 5. Character of col- 
onists. 6. Motives leading them to 
come. 7. Most important results. 



II. Virginia Colony. 



IIL Plymouth Colony. 



42 



lOAVA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 



practically selling their efforts for 
seven years. 4. Religious disturb- 
ances and dissatisfied sects. 5. 
Stern, sturdy, upright, God-fear- 
ing, energetic, patient— toiling. 
6. To make permanent homes and 
remain. Also see reasons given 
in the presentation. 7. Started 
excellent ideas in government in 
the- Mayflower compact and the: 
town-meeting system they used. 
Opened the way for others who 
followed rapidly a few years later. 
Gave to the world examples of 
strong earnest manhood. Spirit 
manifested in overcoming their 
difficulties gave inspiration to all 
times since. 

IV. Prominent characters in th-^- 
colonies. White, Smith, Dale, Del- 
aware. Berkeley, Bacon, Carver, 
Bradford, Standish. 

V. Conclusions. 

1. RALEIGH'S EFFORTS ARE 
COMMENDABLE IN THE IM- 
PULSE THAT THEY GAVE TO 
THE COLONIZATION IDEA. 

2. THE VIRGINIA EFFORT 
RESULTED IN PERMANENCY 
OF THE COLONIZATION THEO- 
RY, IN OVERCOMING THE 
TENDENCY TO DESERT THE 
COLONY AND THUS MADE THE 
FIRST PERMANENT SETTLE- 
MENT. 

3. THE PLYMOUTH COLONY 
GOES A STEP IN ADVANCE IN 
SHOWING DETERMINATION 

BEFOREHAND TO OVERCOME 
ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES 

AND MAKE HOMES. THE 
STRUGGLE WITH THE RIGOR- 
OUS CLIMATE OF THE NORTH 
AND THE RESULTS OF THEIR 



IV. Name, compare, conirast. 
and tell what you admire most in 
the prominent men in these colo- 
nies. 

V. Conclusions. 

1. What conclusion do you draw 
as to the benefits of Raleigh's ef- 
forts? 

2. Show how the Virginia Colony 
resulted in superior value to that 
of the Raleigh attempts. 

3. What did the Plymouth Col- 
ony accomplish that neither of th- 
others had done? 

4. Give a quotation that is gen 
eral that may be said to be exem- 
plified by the efforts of these vari - 
ous colonists. 



IOWA STATK NORMAL SCHOOL. 43 

EFFORTS LEAVE LASTING IN- 
SPIRATION FOR ALL TIME. 

4. General— "THERE IS NO EX- 
CELLECNCE WITHOUT GREAT 
LABOR." 

D.— Application. D.— Application. 

Maps. Groups of items.— Illus- Make maps of the several locali- 

tration. Time: 1584-7,1607, 1620. Im- ^^^^ studied. Make groups of items 

portant names: White, Smith, associating- ideas in different ways 

Berkeley, Bacon, Carver, Bradford, an(j letting each group suggest all 

Standish. Religious convictions, the others it can. Have full topica^ 

Church of England, Separatists, outline made and recitations from 

Motives: Gold, wealth and return it. Read and have read as much 

to England to live, life for a prin- as time will allow: The Landing of 

ciple and homes in America. Sys- the Pilgrims, The Pilgrim Father"?. 

tems of gov't . Of industry &c. Apt thoughts illustrated by 

Literature. Apt thoughts — the colonists. 

"Where there is a will there is a Summary by connected state- 
way." "God helps those who h?l;. ment — See geography plan for illus - 
themselves." Others may be given, tration. 

4.— ARITHMETIC LESSON. 

ONE OF THE METRIC TABLES. 

(Lesson given orally, but to a class that has some knowledge 
•of the common tables in denominate numbers, especially measure 
of length for short distances.) 

AIM:— ALL OF US KNOW HOW MANY MILLS IN A CENT, 
CENTS IN A DIME, UNITS IN A TEN, TENS IN A HUNDRED, 
&c., AND HOW EASY IT IS TO LEARN AND REMEMBER SUCH 
TABLES. IN OUR PREVIOUS LESSON WE NOTICED HOW IR- 
REGULAR OUR COMMON MEASURES FOR MEASURING WIDTH 
AND LENGTH OP BOOKS, DESKS, ROOMS, THICKNESS OF TAB- 
LETS, BOOKS, LENGTH OF BLACKBOARD, OF CARPETS, &c., 
ARE, AND ALSO WE LEARNED THE LENGTH AND NAME OF 
A NEW MEASURE, BUT FOUND IT TOO LONG TO MEASURE 
SMALL THINGS. TO-DAY WE SHALL SEE WHAT SMALLER 
MEASURES MAKE UP THIS LARGE ONE, AND HOW MANY 
OF EACH OP THE SMALLER MEASURES ARE REQUIRED TO 
MAKE ONE OP THE NEXT HIGHER. 

MATTER. METHOD. 

A. — Preparation. A. — Preparation. 

1. Common table for short meas- 1. Give the table of common 

urements. measures, inches, feet, &c., used In 



44 



IOWA STATK NORMAL SCHOOL. 



8-8 in. make 1 inch. 
12 inches make 1 foot. 
3 feet make 1 yard. 

2. United States Money. 
10 mills make 1 cent. 
10 cents make 1 dime. 
10 dimes make 1 dollar. 

3. Common Numbers. . 
10 units make 1 ten. 

10 tens make 1 hundred. 

10 hundreds make 1 thousand. 

4. The meter reviewed. 



B. — Presentation. 
See last statement in the aim. 

I. The meter. 

1. Divide the meter into tenth- 



2. The decimeter. 



measuring length, width, or thick- 
ness of things. 2. Who can give 
the table of United States money? 
3. Build up a similar table in our 
common numbers beginning with 
units. Which of these tables do 
you think easiest to learn and to 
use? 4. Give the name of the 
new measure we had in the last 
lesson. Make a line on the board 
as long as that measure. Hold 
your hands just as far apart as 
the length of that measure. Close 
your eyes and think a distance as 
long as the meter. Find the meter 
stick from this bunch by looking 
at its length. 
B. — Presentation. 

What is it that we said we are to 
find out to-day? 

I. Since this stick is too long to 
measure small things how may w • 
get measures for them? 

1. In thinking of the tables that 
we have just had and the ones 
that you thought were easiest to 
remember and use, what would you 
suggest as a good way to make 
smaller measures from this one? 

2. Who knows the name of this 
tenth part of the meter? (If no one 
knows, which is quite probable, the 
teacher will give it pronouncing It 
carefully and writing it on the 
board.) You may pronounce th^j 
name of this new measure. All 
may take pencil ani write it being 
very careful to spell it exac.ly right 
Take these decimeter rulers an;i 
measure pencils, books, &c., with 
them. (Rulers made from tops of 
crayon boxes.) Hold thumb and 
middle finger a decimeter apart. 
Hold hands a decimeter apart. 
Draw lines a decimeter long. 



II. Build the metric table. 

1. Worked down by tenths go 
back by tens. 



10 millimeters make 1 centimeter. 
10 centimeters make 1 decimeter. 
10 decimeters make 1 meter. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. ^') 

Close your eyes and think the 
length of the decimeter. Measure 
the thickness of your tablets, 
books, .of the side of a crayon box 
and the like. (They discover that 
this measure is too large for this 
use.) Proceed with the centimeter 
and millimeter as was done with 
the decimeter. 



1. Since each smaller measure is 
one-tenth of the larger how many 
of the smaller in each case shall 
we take to make one of the larger? 

Who is ready to start the table 
of new measures we have learned, 
beginning with the millimeter? (It 
is given orally by different mem- 
bers of the class contributing parts 
and the teacher may write it on 
the board, spelling out each word 
in full.) Tou may look at the table 
on the board and think the length 
of each measure and notice care- 
fully just how each word is spelled. 
(Teacher erases from board.) You 
may now write the table, but be 
sure that you do not try to write 
a word that you can not spell cor- 
rectly. (Any word that a pupii 
says he can not spell should be put 
on the board for him to copy. Care 
here will save much trouble later. 



C — Comparison, contrasts, and 
Generalization. (Elaboration.) 

1. Tables given in the prepara- 
tory step recalled. The new one 
kept in mind. 



C. — Comparison, contrasts, and 
Generalization. (Elaboration.) 

1. Which table of those we had 
at the beginning of this lesson la 
like the new one in purpose? How 
do they differ? How are the other 
tables and the new one alike? In 
what are they different from the 
new one? In what are they differ- 
ent from the first one? In what 
are the like each other? How do 
they differ? 



46 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 



2. Generalizations. 

(a). WE FIND THAT Wlii 
CAN MEASURE LENGTH WITH 
MEASURES THAT INCREASE 
AND DECREASE BY TENS 
JUST AS OUR COMMON NUM- 
BERS INCREASE AND DE- 
CREASE OR AS MONEY IS 
MEASURED. 

(b). SINCE OUR COMMON 
NUMBERS INCREASE AND DE- 
CREASE BY TENS OR ARE 
MEASURED BY TENS IT 
WOULD BE EASIER IP WE 
COULD HAVE ALL OUR TA- 
BLES GO BY TENS AS WE 
HAVE POUND IT IS DONE IN 
MONEY MEASURE AND HAVE 
NOW SEEN IN MEASURES OF 
LENGTH, 
D. — Application. 

Measurements. 



Draw units to build up table. 



Problems — 
How many: 

Decimeters in 3, 8, 21, 5, 32, 11. 
6, 9 meters? 

Centimeters in 7, 3, 25, 18, 10, 
16, 24, 15, 13, 2, 4, 9 decimeters? 

Millimeters in 8, 3, 5, 2, 12, 17, 
21, 16, 31, 18 centimeters? 

Centimeters in 20, 80, 40, 60, 
30, 70, 120, 220, 330 millimeters? 

Decimeters in 100, 50, 30, 130, 
40, 90 centimeters? 

Meters in 40, 70, 159, ^0, 160, 
120, 50, 90 decimeters? 

Metric table. 



2. Generalizations, 
(a). What have we found that 
we can do with the new measures? 



(b). Since the common num- 
bers are measured by tens, money 
by tens, and we have found now 
that length may be so measured, 
what might be thought would be 
the thing to do in measuring other 
things? 



D. — Application. 

Measure the top of your desk, 
the top of table, its height, width 
of aisle, height of members of class, 
length of arms, &c., with the me- 
ter or use other measure when the 
meter is too large. 

Draw ten millimeters in column 
on your paper and at the right put 
the equality sign and then draw a 
line to show what the ten millime- 
ters equal. Make the entire table 
in that way using the blackboard 
when you need it for the long lines. 

Solve these problems reading the 
results at sight and trying to think 
the length of each unit named as 
you give it. 

(At first it is well to make the 
drills on very simple combinations. 
Later problems may have frac- 
tional results.) 

Give table just learned. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 
III. 



47 



Assignment of Lessons. 

i8.— IMPORTANCE. 

If it is important that the teacher should have a plan in 
mind while he teaches, it is equally necessary that the pupil 
should have the way that he is to follow in his study hour clearly 
marked out for him. The assignment of the lesson is the pro- 
cess by which the maturer mind of the teacher lays the guide 
lines that the child is to observe in his -effort at mastering the 
task set before him. No marks to guide or uncertain and in- 
definite ones are fruitful causes of wasted study time, and this 
leads to the acquiring of pernicious mental habits and a line of 
conduct that is very detrimental to the best interests of the 
school. Good assignments go a long way toward insuring good 
study periods, and the latter of course insure a wide awake reci- 
tation, which is simply another way of saying that the school is 
a success. A teacher who assigns work well generally teaches 
well, and this insures little trouble in discipline. 

i9._THE TEACHER'S PREPARATION. 

He must make a careful determination of the facts and ex 
periences of the past that should be clearly in the conscious- 
ness of the pupil while he studies. N*o study is successful that 
concerns itself entirely with the new points that are under con- 
sideration. Before assigning the lesson the teacher must de- 
cide what matter the pupil should recall and have in mind while- 
he studies. It is no small matter to be able to suggest wisely 
the back work that should be in view at the time of the prepar- 
ation of the advance. Often the gathering up of the points mado 
in the recitation about to close is an excellent preparatory step 
to the assignment, or a sharp, rapid review of lessons farther 
back may supply the needed material. In some lessons the 
needed related ideas are found in the home and in other experi 
ences of the pupil entirely outside the school. Another ele- 
ment in the teacher's preparation for good assignment of work 
is a clear view of the essential points found in the advance 
topics. To recognize accurately just what there is new in the 



48 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

matter under consideration for the study period requires close 
investigation on the part of the teacher. In order that the child 
may study to advantage the new must be suggested to him as 
something that he is to discover in his investigation while at 
his study. Poor studying is done because hasty and indefinite 
assignments are made by teachers who have not looked up the 
points that should have been vividly held before an interested 
class. 

20.— ATTITUDE OF THE CLASS. 

If inattention is ever allowable it certainly is not to be 
countenanced at the time that work for the next day is being 
marked out. Texts and tablets should be in hand so that every 
suggestion may be secured for the advantage of the study hour. 
After the portion has been put before the class so that it may 
readily be reproduced as to the points that are for study, one 
or more members of the class should be required to restate the 
matter to be covered, and to suggest just 'what the class and he 
should intend to work out. Contrary to the current idea that 
this careful mapping out of the line of travel for the pupil in 
his study will kill his interest in the lesson, the opposite is found 
to be the result when he sees clearly that there is something in 
every lesson for him. 

Pupils should feel that every idea that is suggested as neces- 
sary review must be in mind while the lesson is under contem- 
plation in the assignment as well as while they are studying. 
They should give attention to the suggestions as to the material 
that are to be used in the preparation of the topics, and like- 
wise to the things that may be named as necessary to bring to the 
recitation when it is called the next day. References that are 
to be looked up should be clearly mentioned by the teacher and 
very closely noted by the pupil. Ignored references are worse 
than no references for any class. Generally, book and page of the 
reference should be given to the inexperienced student. 

21.— WAYS OF MAKING, WHEN, TIME TAKEN. 

Probably most of the time the pages of the text may be 
taken consecutively. This depends upon the subject and the 
arrangement of the book. Often the work may be laid out by 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 49 

the topics found in the text, but not on pages that follow in 
order. Selections from the index sometimes make the best 
arrangement of the lesson points. Frequently with older pupils 
the text may be laid aside and work given from other texts and 
reference books by topics entirely. In general, the best time 
for the assignment for such pupils as are found in the public 
schools is at the close of the recitation period. The result of 
the recitation mav not always be such that an assignment made 
at the opening of the period will be the one best adapted to the 
class for next day's study. As to the amount of time that should 
be surrendered to this exercise there can be no absolute rule 
given. It is reasonable to suggest that in the ordinary school 
far too often the time given is nmch under what it should be. In 
a recitation period of thirty minutes, five minutes would not 
seem an over amount of time to give to a matter so important 
as the assignment. Sometimes more than that may wisely be 
given. 

22.— STUDY PERIOD, TEACHER'S MANNER. 
It would probably result in much better work if pupils could 
have the study program so arranged that they could study the 
following lesson just after the close of the assignment. This 
might be possible for those needing such an advantage most 
which would seem to be 'in the middle grades of the public 
schools. Careful jireparation on the part of the teacher is neces- 
sary in order that the proper amount of enthusiasm and earn- 
estness may be put into this part of the work through a revived 
and quickened interest due to a fresh study of the subject. In 
closing, a quotation is given from White's School Management. 
page 169, because the thought has value in even more direc- 
tions than that of the special topic under discussion. "The prin- 
cipal spoke in a conversational tone, but with great animation; 
and both he and his pupils were aglow with earnestness. In 
twenty-five minutes the lesson closed, and some five minutes 
were devoted to the careful assignment of the next lesson. 
which the pupils noted with evident care." 



50 . IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

DEVICES IN TEACHING. 



The Text=Book. 

23.— ITS PLACE. 
At first thought it may seem to some that the text-book is 
not one of the devices used in teaching, but that it is, instead, 
a very great part of the material of the objective world carried 
into the school room to be liquified there and poured into the 
minds of unsuspecting learners as so much mental food lor the 
day. Such a view of the text-book is probably common in some 
regions even at the present time, but it should be forever ban- 
ished from the attention of thinking teachers. These books are 
but the record of the ideas made concrete in the objective world 
about us, or the symbolizing in words and other forms the 
products of the thinking and imaginative faculties of literary and 
scientific men. They only put into conventional symbols in con- 
densed form for convenient handling the certain small portions 
of the universe of truth that have been examined and thought 
suitable for the proper nourishment of the youthful mind. It 
is not the book that is to be studied, but the thing about which 
the book is written. Consequently the book is simply a device, 
and while an important one it should nevertheless be recOi;nized 
at its proper value and given a place where it is thus found to 
belong. The tc.vt-hook is a very essential device. 

24.— THE GOOD TEXT-BOOK. 

I. For grade work at least, it is true to the instincts and 
experiences of childhood rather than rigidly logical. It seeks the 
interests and experiences of the learner as its starting point 
rather than the logical formula of scientific classification. The 
logical presentation of the government of the United States is 
from its beginnings down to the customs of the present in the 
election of president and the like. The child, however, sees our 
government as it is revealed to him through local institutions, 
elections, and presidential campaigns. To him the beginnings of 
things are the parts he experiences. The sensible text-book 



lOAVA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 51 

and its user take advantage of this fact and reach the mind along 
hnes of least resistance, which is always good policy in school 
work as well as in the field of electrical engineering. 

2. In each advancing step the matter is based upon what 
has been done in previous study, and new difficulties are pre- 
sented singly and in suggestive relation to what has gone before. 
On each page of the book, even in advanced grades, there fs 
little that is distinctively new. Some new things appear, but 
there is such a readjusting of the old that much that seems at 
first sight to be new is simply an old friend in new garb. If 
the book can be used at all this must be true. That is the best 
text-book that makes this transition from old to new clearly 
but gradually. 

3. General principles, rules, or definitions are reached 
through a process of sensible inductions as much as possible, and 
these generalizations are used as types, illustrations, or as new 
individual facts for broader inductions or generalizations. When 
these principles, rules, or definitions are developed they are 
stated in clear, simple language for the use of pupils, rather than 
leaving it to the unsystematic statements made by pupils them- 
selves. These principles are the class descriptions from which 
by a process of deduction new individuals of the class are recog- 
nized when seen. 

4. In the opening of each new section that may have a 
definite relation to matter covered by the book on earlier pages 
there are convenient references to these topics as a review to 
be used as an introduction to the themes about to be discussed. 
These references are very helpful in keeping the work properly 
unified. Quite in keeping with the thought suggested in the 
preceding sentences is the practice noticed in some of the most 
recent texts in the use of a part of a page before each main sec- 
tion to state briefly but clearly what it is that is proposed to be 
worked out in the section. This gives the teacher and class a 
view of the author's aim at a time when it appeals most directly 
to them. 

5. A good text-book is clearly divided into chapters, or 
sections of similar importance, with topics and sub-topics prop- 



52 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 

erly lettered and numbered that the learner may readily find his 
way with reasonable assurance that he has the proper co-ordi- 
nation and sub-ordination of points assigned him for study. 

6. At the close of the discussion of a general topic good 
texts are now making a summary or giving a recapitulation of 
salient points for use of pupil and instructor as drills or devices 
for fixing in the mind that which is most essential to the success 
of later work. These may be said to be summarized recapitula- 
tions of the daily work, thus giving a unity to the thought that 
otherwise would be lost. 

7. In subjects that admit of it there should be illustrations 
bv means of pictures or cuts. These should be selected because 
of their value as illustrations of the thought intended to be con- 
veyed and not merely to satisfy an unthinking demand as in some 
popular magazines or to make the book attractive for the idle 
moments of the child. 

8. A sensible preface is by no means a valueless part of the 
text. In this part the author should be able to set forth his pur- 
pose in writing, suggest the strong points of the book as he 
sees them, and give a general survey of the field that he has at- 
tempted to cover. Closely related to this are the suggestions to 
teachers that may well be made by the author at the opening of 
the discussion, and as notes where they will be specially helpful 
in the body of the book. 

9. A well balanced table of contents is an essential of a 
first-class text-book. Within this there should be a list of maps 
or illustrations. And of somewhat the same nature and even 
more essential in many respects is the index at the end of the 
volume. This is to be exhaustive and compactly arranged. It 
makes the book doubly valuable as a tool. In most books the 
pronunciation of the important words given in the index would 
be a very helpful feature. 

10. Good text-books give references showing where help 
may be found for supplementary work. 

25.— IN THE HANDb OF THE TEACHER. 

I. A tool. To the teacher it holds a double place. It is a 
tool and in great measure it must suggest the matter that is to 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 53 

be used as the means of developing the child. It presents a 
two-fold problem to the one who would be the master in all 
respects of what he attempts to do. Although itself a device, 
it still, in its arrangement and treatment of the subject matter, 
becomes a study in method and device, or a work of practical 
pedagogy. To use it well this side of its nature as well as the 
subject matter should be fully grasped. It must be mastered as 
to plan, scope, and divisions, and why each is what it is before 
its full value is reached by the teacher and class alike. The ever 
recurring questions, "Why this matter that is in the book? How 
does it connect with what pupils already know? Why divided 
into the parts that we find here? Why the arrangement of topics 
that is made?" Or another list of questions may be asked, 
"What is the purpose of the table of contents? For what are 
the topical outlines and summaries at the close of the discus- 
sion? Of what practical use is the index?" These are a few of 
the questions that suggest themselves for the investigation of the 
thoughtful teacher. "It is probable that every teacher will care- 
fully study the movement through from the first chapter to the 
last before beginning the use of the book in the class-room." 
This quotation is taken from a text that has appeared recently 
and it shows the attitude that the authors think the teacher 
should take toward the book before attempting its use, and this 
is true of all text-books. 

2. Teacher's mastery. With the hurried teacher, as almost 
every one is destined to be a great part of the time, this mastery 
of the text is no small matter. And in such cases the pedagogical 
aspect at least is sure to be overlooked and in far too many cases 
even the grasp of the subject matter is not such as to make the 
teaching inspiring. There are four or five points of suggestion 
that may be made to one desiring to get command of the book 
in both its phases most readily. A study of the preface is almost 
an essential, not for pupils but for teachers. The table of con- 
tents should be mastered that the teacher may get a view of the 
entire field. This may be accomplished by use of the analysis 
of the contents generally found in the opening pages of the book, 
supplemented by a use of the body of the book, examining the 
pages that are given to certain divisions. Comparing the num- 



54 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

her of pages taken up by different topics is a good way to get an 
idea of the relative treatment of the various parts of the subject. 

The suggestions to teachers merit the closest attention. 
These are found on early pages and scattered as notes through- 
out the text. They generally contain the very essence of the best 
that could be written to help a teacher with the very point in 
question. To the thinking teacher they will be what the name 
implies, "suggestions." They will not lose all their force on the 
subject to which they may be attached, but they will be carried 
over into other years and to other fields of teaching. Try to 
see what principles are present that make these suggestions 
useful. 

The teacher who uses an index well will be able to master 
the book more readily himself, but in that very mastery he will 
become a leader directing the attention of the pupil to that ever 
necessary aid to accurate scholarship and ready use of books and 
libraries. 

26.— ILLUSTRATIONS AND SUMMARIES. 

A closer study of the illustrations that are made in the text 
is one of the best sources of a teacher's inspiration. These illus- 
trations may be in the form of pictures, cuts, stories, or examples. 
They furnish a starting point from which the original teacher 
vv^ill extend his range until all experiences, readings, and objects, 
supply a growing stock of illustrations that is always ready and 
fresh. A careful investigation of the materials shown in a sum- 
mary and a thoughtful determination of the purposes of such a 
summary will lead one to become a more systematic teacher. 
He should habitually lead pupils to gather up in condensed 
classification the products of the study and recitation. To be- 
come a master of grouping facts and principles is a long step to- 
ward success in practical life, and the pupil should have the 
benefit of it in his school training. 

27.— SOME MISTAKES IN USE OF TEXT-BOOKS. 

1. Lack of discrimination between fundamental points and 
accidental qualities belonging to the thing discussed. 

2. Too close confinement to the text on ordinary matters 
and not enough supplementary references. Also in the want of 
illustration from the pupil's experiences and outside life. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 55 

3. Slavishly following" the order of topics in the book with- 
out adjusting them to the variable conditions that various classes 
and localities impose. 

.4. Neglecting certain points and telling pupils that those 
topics are of no consequence simply because the teacher is too 
indolent to get a good understanding of them, as is often done 
with such points as the metric system in arithmetic, climatic 
causes in geography, and even the important dates in history. 

5. Not having pupils to learn definitely, facts, definitions, 
and principles affei they have been properly presented through 
illustration and example. 

6. Neglecting to show pupils how to use the book to best 
advantage. 

II. 

Questioning. 

28.— ITS PLACE. 

Of the multitude of devices that have been invented for 
arousing, instructing, stimulating, and probing the learning mind 
that of questioning stands easily in the front rank. Its general 
use leads the more readily into the notion that it is an instru- 
ment of easy manipulation. No greater error can find lodgment 
in the mind of any teacher, and especially in that of one who has 
not served years in the actual operations of the school room. 
Tn the acquisition of this art, books may be read with great profit, 
as they may teach the fundamental principles that must be in 
the view of every successful questioner. They can not, how- 
ever, give the delicate balancing of forces that is the product of 
the peculiarities of the subject, the personality of the child and 
the general good sense of the teacher. Nothing short of the 
most painstaking practice in formulating questions, deciding 
why each is proposed, and in watching the effectiveness of each 
in reaching the end for which it is given can give one skill in 
this most difficult of class-room exercises. 

29.— TEACHER'S COMPREHENSION. 

He must realize his ofifice as an instrument in the education 
of the child. The education of the individual is the product of 



56 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

the action and reaction that have taken place between his soul 
and mind and the matter and forces outside himself. In a very 
great degree the teacher is merely the adjuster of the mind of the 
pupil to the matter and conditions that surround it. He is a me- 
diator, a stimulator, an illustrator, an invigorator. It is very 
evident that no person can perform the part of a good teacher 
without a full grasp of the subject, for how can he see what that 
subject is to do in the education of the child until he sees what 
the subject itself contains? Likewise, how can he ask stimu- 
lating, logical, sensible questions without knowing the relations 
that various parts of the matter bear to each other? He might 
be able to take the text book of days now gone and ask the ques- 
tions printed conveniently at the bottom of the page, but he 
could not be anything more than a mechanical articulator of the 
ideas of another. Such work is not above that of the photograph, 
which would have in its favor the idea that it was doing just 
what it pretends in the fact that it does not purport to do more 
than mechanically to repeat, as an echo, what had been given it to 
utter. The teacher must know his subject matter. He must 
arrange logically the points to be taught. He must then deter- 
mine the best means for bringing this matter within the grasp 
cf the learning mind. Some questioningwill be necessary without 
a doubt, a knowledge of the subject is but one side 
of the knowledge to be possessed. A knowledge of 
the mind in general, and especially of the mental con- 
dition of the grade taught and as much as possible 
of the individual pupils, is an absolute requirement of the person 
who would become an expert in using devices to fulfill the office 
of a helpful teacher. 

30.— SOME MEANS OF IMPROVEMENT. 

1. A realizing sense of the need of more ability in this 
particular as in many others probably. Here as elsewhere ignor- 
ance is bliss — for the teacher — but expensive for the pupil Until 
one becomes conscious of the need of improvement in any par- 
ticular he will never make any advancement in that line. 

2. Careful study of the lesson to be taught with full an- 
alysis, of the matter into the leading heads with the proper sub- 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 57 

titles. These should be seen in full in their past connection 
and as to the end toward which they look. 

3. After the points of the lesson are fully determined the 
idea of devices that are appropriate for the presentation of each 
point to the minds of the various members of the class must be 
considered. What topics and questions will best introduce? 
In the matter to be presented what questions can the teacher 
ask that will lead the pupil to see the thing he should see? The 
stage of the work, the environment of the class, relation of di- 
visions of the subject matter to each other all combine to make 
the questioning an individual case that can not be appropriately 
reached, excepting in the general way, by the study of lessons on 
questioning. The reader should sit down, and, having the points 
to be made and the class well in mind, he should endeavor to 
see what are the questions most likely to be effective in starting 
the required mental action in the pupils. If time in any degree 
permits there should be a written list of questions prepared, not 
for use in the class-room, but as a means of starting the mind of 
the teacher in the line of proper questioning when he comes 
into the presence of his class. Questioning is an art in which 
skill is acquired as in other arts by constant, thoughtful practice. 
Writing out lists of questions that are then left at home, more 
than doubles the opportunity, for the writing is more impressive 
than the oral questioning before the class. 

4. The first suggestion to come to the student teacher 
when about to make a study of the questions for a particular 
class exercise of the nature indicated by one or more of the fol- 
lowing questions, should be, ''Why should the pupil know the 
thing that I have in mind to teach him here? "Why 
do I ask him the question?" 'Ts any question needed?" 
"Could this point be made clearer by the use of some 
other device rather than the question I propose asking?" 
"Are the questions I am making comprehensive enough 
or am I making them too simple to stimulate the minds?' 
"Do I have too many questions?" "Are they made 
for the bright pupil, for the average pupil or for the dull one?" 
"Am I fixing up a formal set of answers in my mind to which 
the answers of the pupils must conform in order that their efforts 



58 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

may meet approval?" "Is it probable that some of the members 
of the class will be able to give correct answers to these ques- 
tions more readily than I can do it myself?" "Are all of these 
questions relevant and to the point?" "What questions are the 
pupils likely to ask that I have not prepared to meet by my 
preparation of this list?" "Would my class have a puzzled ex- 
pression on their faces at the proposal of any particular one of 
this list of questions?" "Whose fault is it likely to be, in the 
questioner, or in the members of the class on the point of proper 
preparation of the lesson?" 

31.— PURPOSES. 

T. Finding- the pupil's mental condition preparatory to dis- 
cussing with him the subject matter of the lesson. A great part 
of this may well be done at the time of the assignment of the 
lesson, so that he may have the advantage of a better compre- 
hension of his own condition while he studies. Also it is not 
possible to give proper directions for study until the condition 
of the pupil's mind is ascertained. This preliminary questioning 
will be repeated as a part of the introduction at the opening of 
the next recitation period, not in exact form of course, but in 
sense and with additional exercises. 

2. That the thought may be properly led out and obscuri- 
ties made clear during the pupils' discussion of the lesson. Start- 
ing questions and guiding questions are in place in this division 
of the recitation period. They should be logical in arrangemeni 
and applied only at opportune moments if they are to reach the 
desired end, however. 

3. A final fixing and associating operation should take 
place at the end of the time for discussion, and much of this can 
most economically be done through the use of sharp, sensible 
questions delivered in a wide-awake, inspiring tone. Pupils 
should be held accountable for getting something each period, 
and they also have the right to have such a test applied that they 
may know for themselves whether the time has resulted in any 
positive advance. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 59 

32.— GOOD QUESTIONS. 

1. Simple in language and easily within the grasp of the 
person that is to answer it. The thought of the answer and not 
the analysis of the question to get at its meaning should engage 
the attention of the pupil. 

2. A directness that admits of no doubt as to the object 
toward which the mind should be pointed in trying to answer the 
question. Ambiguous and uncertain questions are accountable 
for much of the apparently careless answering that is prevalent 
in all grades of schools from the primary to the university. 
They should at least be clear enough to make it possible for the 
student to make a very intelligent guess, and thus get some 
training in the scientific process of arriving at new truth, if 
nothing more. 

3. The wording of the question should be such that it re- 
quires thought from the learner in his attempt to answer. In 
general the following are not good questions : Such as may be 
answered by yes or no. (Such a question when followed by a 
demand for a reason for the answer is sometimes admissible, but 
it should be avoided lest it lead the young teacher into an unde- 
sirable habit.) Elliptical questions that require but one word 
to be supplied to make the statement of the answer. Another 
that teaches what a good question is by illustrating the opposite 
is the one that ends with the ever recurring, "Is it not?" Good 
questions seldom are of the nature to suggest an alternative. 
Neither do they ask for a repetition of the thought of the an- 
swer just given, or at least rarely should this be so. Verbosity 
is another fault still to be found in the questioning of some 
teachers, such as "Samuel, I wish you to tell us what the effect 
of multiplying both dividend and divisor by the same number 
may be." The mincing, choppy question that leaves the subjecL 
matter in the mind of the learner in the most disjointed manner 
possible is too frequently heard in what is otherwise many a good 
recitation period. 

33.— MANAGEMENT IN QUESTIONING. 

I. Naming the pupil before g-iving the question. This ex- 
cuses all members of the class except the one named from any 



(30 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

responsibility or part in this particular item of the lesson. All 
pupils should be responsible for the answer to each question. 

2. Looking at class in a way that members soon learn by 
the manner of the teacher to whom the question is to be directed. 

3. Passing in a certain order along a line or around the 
class in naming the one expected to respond. Even with the 
best that can be done pupils will be trying to divine the next 
step and be readv for it without giving proper thought to what 
is the duty ol the present moment. This leads directly to the 
next thought. 

4. Much harm is done by the idea that pupils must answer 
all questions instantly after the last word is spoken by the 
teacher. This practice is the cause of very hasty and superficial 
thinking, or rather guessing, with no thinking before attempting 
the answer on the part of the pupil in far too many cases. 

5. The fatal "developing" question is a fruitful source of 
waste of time. There is as much sense in seining m a dry mill- 
pond for herring as there is in searching in some minds by a 
process of questioning for historical and other facts too evidently 
not at home there. Not all teaching can be done by the Socratic 
question pure and simple. 

.6. Allowing each question to grow out of the previous an- 
swer is a sure way to become a wandering teacher and develop 
a wondering or a listless class. A route marked out and an end 
to be reached is the only safe method of proceedure. 

7. Too much questioning makes a talking teacher and 
leaves the class with nothing tangible with which the various bits 
of knowledge may associate themselves, and surely does little 
to improve the fiber of the mind. And with the same exercise 
comes that of keeping at one pupil too long. In the ordinary 
teaching exercise all members of the class should feel the force 
of the questions by frequent invitations to contribute to the an- 
swer side of the account. 

34.— THE MANNER OF THE TEACHER. 
I. Vivacity. The teacher who thinks and puts questions 
in a way that bespeaks a live, active mind, is always at a premium 
with the class. The slow questioner is sure to have a listless and 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 61 

unthinking class. Questions are a great means of keeping the 
minds of pupils active, but how can this be done by a teache. 
whose very manaer suggests sluggishness, even to the verge of 
laziness? When pupils can think ahead and have the answer 
ready before the question has taken full shape in the mind and 
words of the instructor the exercise has little in it of value, for 
education is founded on inspiration through leadership. Avoid 
the drawling tone, the hesitating inflection in the question. 
Teaching is^based on life. It is life to teacher and learner when 
done aright. Proper grading and sensible wording of the ques- 
tion is but half the task, it must have a strong force of animation 
in the teacher to wing it so that it reaches and stimulates the 
mind of the pupil to effective answering. High tones and erratic 
gestures are not indicative of vivacity, and they should be avoid- 
ed here as in all other teaching exercises, but to reach their mark 
effectively the questions must be tipped with the fire of a living 
spirit. Make your questions live. 

2. Ardor. There is such a thing as a lively manner that is 
not suggestive of a great amount of earnestness. The eye and 
countenance of the questioner should glow with an expression of 
intensity of purpose that will kill all thought of idle- 
ness and inattention on the part of the pupils. Ardor 
and a manner in questioning that portray the full, earn- 
est soul will smother disorder and stimulate to activity 
when all artificial means of rewards or punishment 
have failed. Putting questions to inattentive members of the 
class is of little consequence until those questions come from one 
who puts so much force into them that the manner of the ques- 
tioner and not the fact of being rescued from his dreamines.^ 
starts a new stream of life in the learner. Be in dead earnest when 
xoit question. 

3. Sympathy. To get best results from questioning there 
must be a feeling or sympathy for the pupil. Not a sentimental 
expression of feeling that may or may not exist, but a genuine 
appreciation of the difficulties of childhood and the peculiar per- 
plexities of the subject in hand. The cold questioner who does 
his work as if for hire alone can expect little in the way of re- 
sponsiveness on the part of his class. The attitude of an exam- 



62 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

iner as if conducting the exercise for the civil service commission 
is entirely out of place in the teacher. Far too often is the ques- 
tioning of the teacher done with a cold, indifferent manner thai 
represses rather than inspires. All pupils, and especially the timid, 
are in need of sympathy on the part of the teacher, and in no other 
way is this more effectively shown than in the tones, gestures, 
facial expressions, and attitude of the leader of the class in his 
questioning. Vivacity, ardor, and sympathy are not incompat- 
ible, but are the elements of a balanced manner. The first and 
second save the last from degenerating into a foolish sentimen- 
tality, and this last prevents the others from running riot with 
the judgment and making a task-master where there should be 
a helpful friend. Temper all questioning with a generous sympathy 
devoid of undue sentiment. 

35.— QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS OF PUPILS. 

I. Their questions. These readily drop into about three 
classes. 

(a). There is the irrelevant, childish question that is the 
product of the desire to get attention and to satisfy the selfish 
propensities by hearing one's self talk. Such questioning on the 
part of pupils needs checking at once, as it has no educational 
value and is a training in the wrong direction entirely. Be ready 
with a question to meet the useless question of the talking pupil. 

(b). The question deliberately planned to set the teacher 
to talking along some line of special hobby, or to get him to do 
the reciting. Look within for the cause of this and be on guard 
over your own talking propensities to see that the purpose of the 
class in bringing up the question is thwarted. 

(c). There is likewise the proper question for the pupil to 
ask, and it should have polite treatment at all times, although 
there are some of these, even, that are asked out of season. When 
in proper place they should receive the attention they merit at 
once in the way of an answer. If they are not in the right place 
they may be laid aside for the time until the exercise has pro- 
gressed so far that they may be profitably taken up. Honest 
questions should be recognized and should receive treatment in 
accordance with their merit. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 63 

2. Answers. In a manner similar to the questions of pupils 
these may be put into three classes. 

(a). Wholly unacceptable. In this category are several 
common types, (i). Those entirely wrong. (2). Wrong through 
haste and thoughtlessness. (3). Careless and rambling. (4). 
Not in line with the question. (5). Couched in slang or other 
forms of slovenly language. (6). Dishonest. 

(b). Acceptable through sifting. (i). Honest but only 
partly right. (2). Thoughtful but in language that needs atten- 
tion. (3). Showing some comprehension of the question but 
lacking in full grasp of it. (4). Honest effort but giving evi- 
dence that the question was entirely misinterpreted. 

(c). Wholly acceptable, (i). Honest, thoughtful, in good 
language, and correct. 

To discern quickly the value of an answer and give it the 
proper kind of recognition gives evidence of a mastery of the 
art of questioning, for to know good answers at a moment's 
notice is the outgrowth of a full understanding of the effect ot 
questioning. 

Consult Landon's Art of Questioning; Fitch's Art of Ques- 
tioning; and School Management, Tompkins; for a more ex- 
tended discussion of this topic. 

III. 

The Illustration. 

36.— VALUE OF. 

It is probably not too strong language to say that sugges- 
tion plays a more prominent part in the education of the indi- 
vidual than direct observation does. In fact, observation pure 
and simple without suggestion of the imaginative faculty is 
hardly possible to the wide awake mind. "So it is always found 
that the true effects of eloquence are where the expression sug- 
gests a region of thought, a dim vista of imagery, or an oceanic 
depth of feeling, beyond what is actually contained in the sen- 
tences." — Bishop Huntington. It is in this realm of imagery, this 
field of likeness and unlikeness, that the teacher must find his 
greatest inspiration and help. This disposition of the mind to 



64 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

see things other than they are because of the intrusion of imagi- 
native elements must be controlled by a sensible and rich accum- 
ulation of ideas of real things from personal contact with them by 
the learner. Strong observational power and the active imagin- 
ation should be made to supplement each other in the class room. 

The mechanical teacher is painfully prosy and oppressive to 
his class. In the main the explanation for this prosiness and 
dullness is due to the very few points of contact that he has been 
able to discover between the matter he is trying to teach and the 
experiences and imaginative activities of nis pupils. No greater 
power can come to a teacher than that of seeing almost instinct- 
ively the need of an apt illustration and possessing the informa- 
tion and courage to use such illustrations even though they must 
seem to be drawn from simple and homely themes. Holmes has 
said that a dull speaker and a lively listener reminded him of a 
crow with a kingbird after him, and about the same is the pre- 
dicament of a teacher that is slow in illustration. If the teacher 
is devoid of skill in this part of his training he should at least 
allow the pupil to make himself understood through his ten- 
dency to illustrate his own thought. From these pupils he may 
then get a clue to his needs and improve himself in this very 
necessary art. 

37.— KEY TO ATTENTION. 

The happy use of illustrations is the key to the difficulty of 
holding the attention of pupils. Help and suggestions as to im- 
portance of the study of this aid to good teaching can be found 
in all books and chapters in educational literature where the 
f]uestion under discussion is that di securing and holding atten- 
tion. The live teacher is always on the alert for such helps. The 
mind is able to see just so much in a subject as it brings to that 
subject in interpretative materials, and this makes it imperative 
that the instructor should be constantly accumulating a rich fund 
of materials to use in suggesting to the class the ideas that will 
make clear the hazy and abstract. Sources of illustrations are 
ever at hand. Occupations, seasons, weather, plants, animals, 
newspapers, books, magazines, and all other avenues of mental 
life are teeming with useful material for him who has the time 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 65 

and disposition to make it come to his bidding. The school 
studies through the principal of correlation may be made to help 
each other. Geography throws a flood of light upon history and 
literature, and these in turn give life and meaning to the facts 
of geography. 

38.— WHAT IT IS. 
"An illustration is something already known, or easily ap- 
prehended through the senses, which is made use of to assist the 
mind in its effort to comprehend something which is unknown." 
Joseph Landon. In general the illustration presents nothing 
new in itself, but aims rather to make the new thoughts clear by 
arousing in the mind old ideas similar to the new ideas to be 
presented. Likeness is the teacher's key and while it must be 
shown often in the form of word pictures, real pictures, and the 
use of objects themselves not altogether similar, it still unbolts 
the door that shuts the new from the inner life of the learner. 
In the broadest sense all teaching is picturing and illustrating. 
One teacher makes a subject glow with interest and seem to live 
again in the pupils, while another seems to repress and deaden 
all interest, and the real source of the difficulty is in the differ- 
ence in picturing power. Fortunately this is not a realm that is 
left open only to the select few, but one that all thinking people 
may in a degree possess. We learn to illustrate by illustrating, 
we learn to picture before the pupil's mind by picturing before 
our own minds, and we learn to image by imaging. "At the 
lieart of even the boldest of such instances of picture-work, there 
lies a true and universal principle. And we may be sure thac 
we are more likely to err on the side of stiffness and conven- 
tionality (which is often sheer laziness and ignorance), than on 
the side of reality and life." — Walter L. Hervey. 

HOW THINGS ARE MADE CLEAR. 
There are three ways of making clear most points that come 
up in the teaching of ordinary subjects, (i). Explanation. (2). 
Illustration. (3). Definition. As an illustration of these the 
following are given: The statement may be made to a child that 
most things are porous, but he does not understand the word, 
"pourous," and it must be made clear to him. The explanation' 



66 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

would be made bv substituting language that is simpler for the 
child and thus more readily understood by him for the word that 
is troubling him, i. e., porous masses have holes in them. Illus- 
tration would make the matter clear to him by exhibiting sub- 
stances that have the quality in question quite well marked in their 
structure, and he would thus see for himself the meaning of the 
word. Definition would do as follows, as the definition from a 
late dictionary shows: pourous, "having pores; pervious because 
of pores." In this case as in most cases it is seen that a process 
of illustration is probably the best method for making the de- 
sired impression en the mind of the learner. An explanation 
presents a particular thing as exemplifying the general quality 
mentioned, or it places a well known particular for one not so 
well known, and that is needing clearing up in the mind of the 
learner. Definition is the most difficult and would generally come 
as a summary of the ideas gained through explanation and illus- 
tration. 

40.— QUALITIES OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

1. Clearness. A cloudy illustration is worse than none at 
all. It must always be clearer than the truth it was intended to 
illustrate or it should not be used. 

2. Aptness, or truth. An individual that does not possess 
the qualities that belong to the general class for which it is sup- 
posed to stand is not apt or true as an illustration. Neither is 
the individual that is not a near counterpart of the other individ- 
ual for which it is presented well adapted for tliis purpose. 

3. Brevity. This is a quality that should by all means be 
kept in view. Some very good teachers and preachers in most 
other respects forget this, and cover up the thought with their 
illustrations, or the pupil or listener forgets what was under con- 
sideration before the point in the illustration is reached. 

4. Familiarity. In fact, a thing is not an illustration unless 
it is familiar to the person for whose mind it was prepared. The 
whole foundation principle of the process is the old illuminating 
the new. 

5. Ouaintness. The freshness of a thing gives it power as 
an illuminator. Old things seen in new lights are always in de- 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 67 

mand. To put forth an old truth in new setting is in the line of 
the highest of originality. Ouaintness is much to be desired so 
long as it is restrained from running over the border line into 
the realm of oddities and peculiarities. 

6. Beauty. The mind not only delights in the beauty of 
the illustration because of the new truth that it thus has secured, 
but there is a subtle influence going out from the matter used 
that leaves a refined taste and a whetted appetite for that which 
has the element of grace and delicacy in it. Coarse illustrations 
are out of place in the school room. 

7. In general. The whole world of imagery should be ex- 
plored for its richest gems of light reflecting likenesses. All 
illustration finds its full power in the discovery of "likes" — this 
is like that and so forth. What thing that is familiar to my pupils 
is this new truth like? It is true that those illustrations that 
spring full robed from the inspirations of the moment in the 
class-room are the best, but they will not spring in that way un- 
less cultivated in the off duty moments and made possible by a 
systematic effort in observation and reading. 

41.— HOW TEACHERS MAY IMPROVE IN THIS 

POWER. 

(In that valuable monograph, The Art of Securing Atten- 
tion, by J. G. Fitch, we find several pages given to the subject 
of illustration. One section is of so much value right here that 
while it is not quoted in exact words it is given so nearly in the 
form of the book that acknowledgement is made of the source 
from which the thoughts of the following topic are taken.) 

Endeavor to remember carefully things seen and to describe 
them afterwards. Practice more in the art of telling a story. 
When a circumstance has been read or met sit down and try to 
reproduce it in one's own language. By watching carefully the 
metaphors and illustrations that impress his own mind and then 
carefully storing them in memory with a view to using them in 
class as opportunity may offer. In preparing to give a lesson 
studying all the details and surrounding circumstances until he 
can realize the pictures himself and feels his power to reproduce 
them for the class, or better, sees how he may lead the pupil to 



68 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

form similar pictures for himself. By trying to see how to make 
graphic illustrations of things that may be pictured to the eye. 
By always keeping in mind the necessity of rendering one's 
teaching more vivid and constantly keeping on the alert for ma- 
terial with which to reach that purpose. 

42.— DEVICES USED IN ILLUSTRATING. 
In that excellent little work, How to Secure and Retain 
Attention, (Every teacher should read it), by James L. Hughes, 
there is a list of devices given, and it is repeated here in brief form 
to give a general view of the means at command for purposes of 
illustration. 

I. Those illustrations that appeal to the imagination 
through the eye. (i). Blackboard, (a). Diagrammatic, (b). 
Pictorial. (2). Picture, map, and chart. (3) Model. (4). Ob- 
ject. (5). Experiments. (6). Dramatic. 

II. Those that appeal directly to the imagination. 
Stories, incidents, personal experiences, descriptions of 

noble deeds and the like. 

43.— THE BLACKBOARD. 

1. The modern school room is generally supplied with 
blackboard and in the houses of latest construction there is pro- 
vision for a reasonaoly good supply and of a fair quality at least. 
Exploitation of problems and grammatical diagrams on the 
board by pupils is about all the use that is made of it in many 
schools. This is by no means all the use that should be made of 
it, and possibly it may be allowable to suggest that there are even 
more important uses to which it may be put than the one men- 
tioned. Teacher and pupil should use it both in pictorial and 
diagrammatic illustrating. 

2. A few quotations suggesting the use of the blackboard 
and the importance of having pupils do something for themselves 
in following the teacher are given below. 

The wise teacher uses the blackboard almost constantly. 
* * * * The board, the slate and the paper are important 
educational aids and should be fully utilized. * * * * After 
a subject is mastered in detail it is reviewed in outline. * * * * 
We begin with particulars and work up to diagrams. — Baldwin. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. gQ 

The use of the hands is the only certain way of compelling 
pupils to attend tu their work. * * * * In all blackboard 
illustrating done by the teacher, the pupil should follow on slate 
or paper, and usually part by part after the teacher. — Hughes. 

Every thing that admits of it should be drawn on the slate, 
(or board), instead of being explained in words. Pictures, draw- 
ings, casts, photographs, models, plans, maps, antiquities, &e., in 
illustration of our texts, the more the better. — Sedgwick. 

Fertility in device, in illustration, in graphic drawing, should 
be a professional characteristic. From your own resources add 
vividness and reality to the contents of the text. Study home 
surroundings and experience as a means of illustration. — Mc- 
Murray. 

3. The pictorial work that may be done is limited by the 
skill and ingenuity alone that the teacher may bring to that phase 
of her daily duties. Word pictures of the reading lesson may be 
made to assume form and shape and seem to live again in the few 
strokes on the board. Geographical features can readily be rep- 
resented in almost unending variety. Plant products, especially, 
lend themselves to such illustrative work on the board. These 
are but suggestive. Easy drawings for the geography class are 
at hand every day. No subject is barren in the opportunity for 
the use of the board in pictorial illustration. It is a field as yet 
but poorly cultivated. In the line of diagrammatic illustration 
there is a broad field for investigation. The thing that comes to 
mind most readily with most teachers when the diagram is men- 
tioned is the analysis of sentences in the grammar class by the 
diagram. This, however, is one of the least valuable of the dia- 
grammatic illustrations. Relations in arithmetic, comparative 
areas, length of rivers, miles of railroad, growth of population, 
increase in products, and other statistical facts as well as abstract 
ideas may be made to a^sume intelligible form by a judicious use 
of this means of ihustration. 

4. There are several reasons why teachers do not use the 
board more freely as an agent in making clear the instruction 
from day to day. One of these is the failure to recognize the 
great need there is for the use of something to render the in- 



70 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

struction more concrete. It has been the custom too much to 
teach words rather than ideas with words as the mere signs of 
ideas. A second hindrance is the inabihty to recognize the salient 
points in a lesson that lend themselves most readily to such a 
means of interpretation. This side of the teacher's work requires 
care and study as well as any other line. To see quickly where 
a hasty drawing or a simple diagram will give new meaning to a 
point is a prime characteristic in a teacher. An additional point 
and probably the one that stands in the ordinary teacher's way 
more completely than either of the others, or the two combined, 
is the superstition that she can not draw, or that her attempts 
would be so crude as to excite unfavorable comment. Such sur- 
rendering to one's timidity and fears is not becoming to one who 
aspires to leadership of the young. There are failures innumer- 
able along the highway of life due to this cause alone as compared 
with one due to the other tendency of over confidence. Common 
sense and a firm will may work wonders here. "Our fears do 
make cowards of us all." 

5. Teachers can improve. It would be a serious reflection 
on the intelligence and persistency of the teaching fraternity to 
assert that it is beyond the power of teachers to improve them- 
selves in this particular line. They can and should improve. The 
difficulty lies in a great measure in the inability to see things. 
There is a lack in the imaging power, even of that power that 
simply recalls what has once been seen, but is not now at hand. 
The power to recall the outline and features of an object can be 
cultivated, and also the power to construct what has never been 
seen from the elements that descriptions, pictures, and similar 
objects near at hand furnish. If the imaginative faculty can be 
cultivated then the power to illustrate better even to the use of 
the blackboard can be improved. Clear mental images lead to 
clear speaking and teaching, and they lead also to clear drawing. 
Muscle training is necessary in some degree, but it is a matter of 
mind training in far greater degree. Teachers may improve con- 
stantly with little expense in time by trying to find the lines that 
give character to the landscape and all views that strike the eye 
as one walks the streets, by examination of pictures in text books, 
magazines, advertisements, cartoons, and the like, and then in 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 71 

spare moments trying to recall and reproduce in a few lines on 
the board or on paper. The blackboard is here and it should be 
made a living power in the operations of the school. 

Asfde from the help that school journals are constantly fur- 
nishing along the way, there are inexpensive books that are very 
suggestive for one who has the interest to investigate and to 
think. These are too numerous for mention here, but their excel- 
lencies and the low rate at which they may be obtained should 
encourage any teacher to make a study of this question. (See 
list of reference books.) 

44-— PICTURES, MAPS, CHARTS. 

I. Pictures should be selected for the simplicity with which 
they tell their story. They are better for not having too much 
color and a great amount of detail. The thing to be illustrated 
should stand out clearly and have nothing of the nature of a 
puzzle picture about it. There is probably no subject in which 
this aid is not useful. It is a good sign that language books arc 
making so much use of pictures now. These are not for making 
mere sentence exercises such as — "I see a cat," "The cat has two 
eyes," and similar almost useless exercises. They are for study, 
and from the picture the pupil's imagination should be led to 
formulate a good story or description that is accurate enough as 
to fact to be a safe mental exercise, but still has enough of origi- 
nality to make it valuable language training. In reading, in his- 
tory, in geography, in fact every where the picture generally 
stands nearest to the real thing of any of the illustrative devices. 
With the cheap reproductions, the illustrations in text books, in 
magazines and papers, there is opportunity for collecting pic- 
tures, that in many cases have especial artistic merit, but at least 
all may be valuable as illustrations of particular points in teach- 
ing. Also there should be constant effort made to induce pupils 
to look at common objects, landscapes and the like, and think of 
them as they would appear in pictures. In like manner the im- 
agination should be exercised to see real things from the objects 
represented in pictures. Pictures in things and things in pic- 
tures should be the effort. For class use the picture should gen- 
erally be kept out of view until the pupil has made an effort to 



72 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

see the view mentally by his own picturing faculty, and then he 
may see the picture as a means of assuring himself of his success 
or of correcting the images he has been able to form. 

2. Maps are a very common device, and while their use is 
extremely essential, too often they are made the end rather than 
the means to an end. The end is not the remembering of geo- 
graphy, reading, and history by map symbols, but rather the 
seeing of a real country, coast, mountains, cities, through the 
suggestiveness of the map. There are times when the map is 
all that can be held in mind, but the effort should constantly be 
made to have pupils think beyond the map to the thing sym- 
bolized by it. 

3. Charts are devices that put ideas of statistics, compari- 
sons, classifications in form to appeal to the eye. Abstract ideas 
may be made more clear by sensible charting. As with maps the 
chart should be an aid and the facts back of it should be that 
upon which the mind is ultimately to fix itself. (See list of refer- 
ence books for further suggestions on these topics.) 

45.— COLLECTING AND PRESERVING ILLUSTRATIVE 

MATERIAL. 

I. Some teachers seem by instinct to select the best of illus- 
trations and know just when to use them. There may be some- 
thing of instinct and inspiration about the process, but it is more 
probable that for every good illustration used this teacher has 
mastered several not so good and discarded them without using 
them. Indiflference and its nearest relative, slothfulness, are ac- 
countable for more of the sins of omission in this world than 
newspaper obituaries would lead one to suppose. But recently 
that veteran writer and teacher, Prof. B. A. Hinsdale, was called 
to his reward. In one of his books, Garfield and Education, the 
following quotations may be found: "General Garfield's readiness 
on all occasions has often been remarked. Probably some have 
attributed this readiness to the inspiration of genius. The ex- 
planation lies partly in his genius, but much more in his inde- 
fatigable work. He treasured up knowledge of all kinds. 'You 
never know,' he would say, 'how soon you will need it.' Then 
he forecasted occasions and srot ready to use them." On another 



IOWA STA'J'K NOKMAL SOirOOL. "^S 

page of the same book two suggestive sentences are quoted from 
one who knew Garfield as a teacher — from a man who later wa.s 
a University president himself. His words are as follows: "He 
had rare ability at illustration. His mind was growing every 
day, and the studies that nourished him nourished his pupils as 
well." In these few sentences are wrapped a volume of sugges- 
tion for thinking teachers who realize their weakness in making 
things clear to their classes. Eyes that see, ears that hear, and 
an understanding that grasps relations readily may not make one 
a genius, but they may make a very ordinary teacher into one of 
positive force and extended usefulness. 

2. But many teachers say, "Where shall I begin to look for 
illustrative matter?" The answer is, "Everywhere." Especially 
is the community life of the locality in which one is teaching rich 
in materials for use in this way in the school room if he has the 
judgment to use things and groups, and thus avoid too promi- 
nent reference to individual men and women. The simplest and 
best objects for pointing the mind of the learner to the unseen 
truth are those with which he is in daily contact. Another source, 
aside from the ever faithful text-book, is the daily or weekly 
paper. Both the local and the patent side of the coniinon paper 
that comes into the homes of the pupils may be utilized in this 
way. Not every thing can be used, and much that is useful is 
not to be taken bodily, but it can be helpful through the sugges- 
tions that it breathes forth if these are then worked over into a 
living product by an active brain. The stray pamphlet, even if 
mere advertising matter, has something of value for this purpose 
very frequently. Standard magazines are full from cover to cover 
— advertising pages, pictures, and all solid reading contributing 
in due proportion to him who will but levy upon the treasures 
presented. Books are at hand to lend their assistance continu- 
ally. Not just the professional book of the teacher or the book 
of ready-made illustrations, but the common, every-day book is 
a mine worth the working in this respect. 

3. There are firms now advertising to furnish applicabbi 
clippings from the best current literature to illustrate any subject 
the purchaser may name. To get a full set of these clippings in 
that way would not be wise for the teacher, but a collection of 



74 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

clippings of descriptions, pictures, discussions, and pointed 
stories should be a large part of every teacher's tools. As these 
things increase the question arises as to the best means of pre- 
serving them. A very simple and inexpensive way for temporary 
filing of such material is the use of the cover of note paper tab- 
lets after the paper has been used from it. With a rubber band 
around the back an opportunity is furnished for inserting such 
clippings as are made from time to time, thus keeping them safely 
until needed or until they can be assorted and discarded or laid 
away for future use. Another means for keeping these collections 
is the nianila envelope that may be readily made at very little ex- 
pense and trouble. A series of these can be prepared, and with 
proper title affixed they may be made to answer quite well the pur- 
pose of a more expensive file. A series of pockets or envelopes 
fastened together, such as business men often use for classifying 
invoices and other papers, forms another convenient means of 
homing these literary waifs. More commodious and still not 
seriously expensive are such devices as the Chautauqua file now 
on the market. Any of these devices are preferable to the ordi- 
nary scrap-book, for the latter is cumbersome, necessitating the 
use of paste, is hard to keep in proper classification, and worst 
of all prevents the use of single articles without the burden of 
handling the whole collection. Also scraps preserved where the 
individual pieces are easily reached can be used to set an entire 
class at work on a theme when the book could be put into the 
hands of but few of the members of the class. In making use of 
such materials there is more than the immediate good to come 
from it in the inspiration that pupils may be led to feel for doing 
similar things when they see the help they are able to get from 
the teacher's clippings or from those that may be the property of 
the school through the united effort of teacher and pupils along 
this line. These collections should frequently answer the teach- 
er's question, "Where can I find something to illustrate this 
lesson?" 

4. Many of the princes of trade made themselves masters 
of the markets by giving attention to the things their competi- 
tors neglected. Frequently it is the "by-products" that furnish the 
margin on which the fine home and the independent fortune are 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 75 

founded. That person is most valuable to his conuiiunity who 
goes ahead and helps himself without waiting for public officials 
to furnish the means for his employment. In like manner the 
teacher who provides illustrative matter of her own by carefully 
watching for the unused articles that are lying about inviting a 
more intelligent employment than they now have is most valu- 
able to the school and community. Better libraries, more teach- 
ing apparatus, and warmer co-operation are in store for those 
who prove their faith in such things by the personal effort and 
sacrifice they are willing tc make for the sake of securing them 
Demanding the interest and help of school officials is by no 
means so efifective as commanding it by the superior use made 
of the inferior or simple means that lie at hand soliciting recog 
nition. 

46.— MAKING ILLUSTRATIVE MATTER FOR CLASS 

USE. 
I. Wall maps or charts. 

1. There is a proper place for all the well-edited printed 
maps that the schools can afford. Likewise there is a large place 
for the outline or for the sectional map that should grow from 
the hand of the teacher. These may be made to present just what 
is needed to make the essential features of a series of lessons 
take hold forcibly upon the minds of pupils. Acting upon the 
principle of dividing and conquering they render it possible to 
fix what is needed most economically without the labor of hunt • 
ing the points desired from a mass of matter that is adapted to 
some other school or locality only. When skill and time allow 
it, probably the blackboard map or chart that grows directly 
under the eye of the pupil is the best means for the presentation 
of individual features, but this is so rarely possible that other 
and more permanent means must be devised. The "home- 
made," cheaply constructed piece of apparatus is most promising 
of results that may readily be attained by the teacher of some 
ingenuity and moderate determination to overcome one's fears of 
failure in venturing into a field somewhat beyond past experi- 
ences. 

2. The material is composed of things that may be collec- 



76 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

ted with but little expense, as not all that is mentioned below is 
absolutely necessary before anything can be done. 

(a). Paper. The ordinary wrapping paper that may be 
found in sheets or in the form of rolls in the common stores will 
answer all purposes very well. (b). Rubber marking pencil. 
This can be secured through any dealer in stationery suppHes. 
These are useful in all kinds of ruling, lettering, tracing of boun- 
daries, and kindred operations where ink is desired to give the 
work more permanency or a better finish, (c). Common ink. 
Writing fluids that become blacker as exposure to light and air 
are increased are quite suitable, but any ink may be used with 
good results. (d). Rubber marking type. This is one of the 
things that may be omitted from the ordinary teacher's outfit, 
but it is very convenient in making charts, lists of drill exercises 
in reading, arithmetic, language, and for various other purposes. 
(e). Dry map colors. These are not expensive and almost essen- 
tial to give distinctness and attractiveness to the things that are 
to be made to stand out prominently for the attention of the class. 
A satisfactory substitute may be prepared by scraping the darker 
colors of the ordinary colored crayon with a knife and thus se- 
curing a fine powder. A colored crayon, called lecturer's crayon, 
that is very fine for this work, is made by the American Crayon 
Co., at Sandusky, Ohio. It is not expensive, as each stick fur- 
nishes material for a large amount of work. Powder from either 
of these kinds of crayon can be made more smooth in its appli- 
cation if the color is dark enough to admit of the addition of a 
little French white to the dust. This coloring material is ap- 
plied to the paper by putting a soft piece of cloth over the tip of 
a finger and then dipping it into the color and rubbing it on the 
space to be colored, gently at first, and then more heavily to fix 
it in the fiber of the paper, (f). Colored crayon saturated in 
melted parafifine can be used for drawing, lettering, etc., on un- 
sized cloth if desired. In preparing the crayon all that is neces- 
sary is a few cents worth of paraffine wax melted in a tin cup or 
an empty can. The crayon is then dropped into the hot wax and 
',vhen the air bubbles cease to rise they may be removed, and 
when cool they are ready for use. Work done with these colored 
crayons is as permanent as that done with ink. (g). Rainbow 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 77 

crayon or other colored pencils commonly on sale at drug stores 
are very helpful to have at hand for setting forth things by con- 
trast on small maps and charts. 

3. Means for Enlarging, Co-ordinate with "2" Above. 

To transfer the features ol a small outline drawing or the 
ordinary text-book map to paper for wall maps or charts re- 
quires more skill and time than the teacher has at command, 
commonly, if it must be done by means of the power to draw 
from sight with sufBcient accuracy. Fortunately this need not 
be done as there are ways of reaching the desired end without 
the use of so much time and skill. 

(a). The rubber string, tin pointer, and pencil. This is a 
device that can easily be secured by any teacher. Ordinary rub- 
ber cord will do with a small pointer made from tin or wire 
coiled about the cord so that it can be adjusted by slipping along 
the cord from place to place. To enlarge a drawing with this all 
that is necessary is to keep the pointer near one end and with 
that end pinned to the table and the outline to be enlarged under 
this pointer and a pencil at the distance toward the other end of 
the cord to make the required enlargement by watching the 
pointer to see that it follows the drawing and allowing the pencil 
in the hand over the sheet upon which the copy is desired, to 
trace as it will a very accurate, enlarged duplicate may be se- 
cured. Instead of the cord eight or ten of the ordinary rubber 
bands linked together with two or three at one end of a short 
piece of strong cord, and the remainder of the bands at the other 
end, will succeed even better than the cord. The inelastic string 
between the bands should have the tracing pointer" fitted to it 
loosely enough to be adjusted readily. By pinning the small 
drawing or map on the blackboard this same device can be used 
for enlarging with the crayon. A little practice, patience, and 
ingenuity will enable any one to make a success of its use. 

(b). The ordinary wood pantagraph can be secured from 
any supply house and it is a very handy piece of apparatus, but 
the device described above answers every purpose, is more easily 
manipulated, and has the advantage of being very inexpensive. 

(c). Where a dark room is convenient or one that can readi- 



78 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

ly be darkened is at hand, a two inch double convex lens of about , 
ten or twelve inches focal length can be made to render the besi: | 
of service. A box wide enough to fit a window and open on the 
side toward the sunlight, and having a movable shelf in it that 
can be raised or lowered, is all that is needed for the foundation. 
The lens can be set into the top of the box just over the center 
of the movable shelf, and with a mirror at an angle of forty-five 
degrees over the lens the image can be caught on a screen in the 
darkened room. The picture or other matter to be enlarged is 
laid upon the movable shelf directly under the lens where the 
light from outside is falling upon the shelf, and when this shelf 
is adjusted to the right focus and the outside light excluded from 
the room a clear image that is easily traced is found on the paper 
on the screen. Desired size of image is secured by changing dis- 
tance of screen from lens. 

4. Making duplicates of enlarged copies. There are man)' 
occasions when one needs more than one copy of a map 
or drawing or chart, and to make new copies of exactly the same 
size may require extra skill and time if it is to be secured through 
the enlarging process just described. These may readily be made 
in the following manner: Lay sheet or sheets on which dupli- 
cates are desired on a cloth covered table with the copy over 
them and pin all together. Trace the copy with a pencil or with 
the top of a penholder that has a blunt point. After removing 
the copy the indentations on the duplicates may easily be traced 
in ink. Four or five copies at a time may be made in this way 
If blackboard stencils are wanted, by running a tracing wheel 
over the reverse side of the indented sheet they may be made 
sufficiently perfect for common use. Perforations can be made 
with a common pin in a short time in sufficient number to serve 
as all the guide points that are usually needed for a blackboard 
stencil. 

5. Mounting maps and charts for hanging. The com- 
mon shade stick that may be secured from any dealer in shades 
is the cheapest and most convenient means of preparing the map 
or chart for class use on the wall. With a thumb tack, first 
pressed through a narrow piece of wood split from the cover of 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 79 

a crayon box, the paper may be quickly fastened, and it will not 
be easily torn from its fastenings in this way. There is little 
trouble to remove the fasteners and insert more sheets as the 
collection grows. Instead of thun>b tacks brass-headed tacks, 
known in furniture stores as upholstering nails, do very nicely 
and are cheaper. These may likewise be driven by pressure of 
the thumb without the need of a hammer. 

II.— MATERIAL FOR SEAT WORK. 

I. Making a number of copies for class use at the seats, 
of maps, examination questions, summaries of lessons, shor. 
selections for committing, songs, is a helpful thing for teachers 
to do. 

(a). The duplicate printer or hektograph. This very con- 
venient piece of apparatus can be purchased or it can be made, 
by a teacher with disposition to prepare for the best results, at 
little expense and trouble. The following formula taken from a 
copy of The Teachers' Institute of some years ago has been tried 
and found to work well, if the materials are of proper quality : 

I. pt. glycerine. 

4 oz. gelatine. 

I tin pan 8x12 — a shallow caramel pan with upturned 
edges does very well. Some use an ordinary slate, filling the 
frame level with the composition. Two slates may be pre- 
pared and hinged together with the faces having the compDsi- 
tion turned inward to protect them when not in use. Soak the 
gelatine in a pint of cold water; then add the glycerine; pu. 
upon the stove, stirring that it may not burn. When it comes 
to a boil pour into the pan or slate to cool. Beware of air 
bubbles and you will have a smooth, hard, sticky surface. If 
it should happen that the composition should be too sticky it 
is probable that the gelatine was more powerful than the gly- 
cerine, and by remelting and adding more of the latter this dif- 
ficulty could be overcome, and in the same way the reverse 
process will remedy the fault if the composition should prove 
too soft for successful use. The materials should cost from 
sixty to seventy cents, at most, and there is enough in the 
quantity given to fill about four ten by twelve slates. If this sur- 



80 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

face should become uneven or holes appear in it as is likely to 
be the case in some months of age, or if injury of any nature 
should spoil the surface, it may be made all right by holding a 
hot fire shovel near the composition, but not touching it, until 
it melts and flows together again. 

To prepare to take the copies desired all that is necessary is 
hektograph ink and a common pen. The matter to be duplicated 
is put upon ordinary legal cap paper or other paper of equally 
good texture. When the writing is dry, without use of blot- 
ter, lay the copy on the prepared slate, or pan, written side 
downward, letting it remain from one-half to two minutes, ac- 
cording to the number of copies needed. Remove the copy 
and take the impressions wanted from the face of the hekto- 
graph on blank paper. Common printing paper answers very 
well for the copies taken. When copies begin to appear indis- 
tinct they may be made clearer by moistening the blank paper 
before applying it to the hektograph surface to get the impres- 
sion. The ink will sink into the pad and the surface be ready 
for use again within ten to sixteen hours. When the compo- 
sition becomes saturated with the ink and will no longer give 
a clear copy, it should be removed and a new supply of the 
material put into the slate or pan. This change does not have to 
be made frequently, however, even when the hektograph is in 
almost daily use. 

(b). For all kinds of work of making copies readily and 
in great numbers the mimeograph is the most satisfactory in- 
strument, but as this -costs much more than most teachers can 
afford to put into such a piece of apparatus and as the supplies 
are more expensive than those for the hektograph, it is not so 
available as the apparatus first described. Any one using the 
mimeograph for making maps or even for ordinary autograph 
work, and desiring a number of copies, should put over the 
stencil, before fastening into the printing frame, a protecting 
sheet such as is furnished for the stencil for making type-written 
copies, or a piece of very thin cloth will do. One stencil will 
thus be made to furnish several hundred copies if they are de- 
sired. 

(c). Another device for this duplicating of maps and pic- 




CLARENCE E. STEELE, 

Cedar Falls, Iowa. 

CLASS 1897. 



MAUDE A. LONC-STEELE, 

Cedar Falls, Iowa. 

CLASS 1898. 



State Normal Graduates as Teachers in the Philippines. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 81 

tures is the stencil that is so easily obtained. These are cheap 
and within the reach of any teacher. Some who have special 
talent as artists may not feel that this is the artist's way of illus- 
trating, but the busy teacher and often equally busy pupil should 
have the advantage of any such device that can be secured if it 
will make the work more effective. There is no virtue in mis- 
shapen scrawls called maps made by some pupils, and the time 
can be used to better advantage in furnishing a copy to be 
filled up with the essentials of the subject, giving his free hand 
efforts to small sections and to things that employ his artistic 
faculties to better advantage. 

III.— RELIEF WORK. SOLID FORMS. 

I. The reproduction of ideas through doing with the 
hands is especially beneficial to all grades of pupils. There are 
some materials that can be had by any teacher without great 
opportunity for manual training in other respects. The repro- 
duction of geographical ideas gained from the field lessons, 
from study of the larger units from sources that lie beyond the 
realm of his own experiences, and from readings and descrip- 
tions in books and magazines, is one of the best of educational 
aids to bring the learner into life-like touch with his school oc- 
cupations. Building ideas of the territory over which historical 
events took place and a relief picture of scenes described in the 
reading lesson, are not only interesting to almost any grade of 
pupils, but very valuable. An abundance of such work may be 
done without loss of time, but in fact it is rather a time-saver, 
as the ideas becom^e so much more fully fixed that they do not 
escape and need so frequent refreshing as those left withon: 
this process of reproduction. The outline of a grand division or 
some portion of land being drawn upon slates with a colored 
pencil, modelling material may be given pupils to have them 
express their ideas of relief and drainage by having them build 
up the forms on the slate. Threads or strings may be laid in 
for rivers. Some of this work is done with maps and other 
helps before the pupil to enable him to form correct notions 
of the region he is trying to represent. Ultimately he should 
reproduce his own ideas of the region without any thing present 



82 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 

to suggest or guide him excepting his own mental picture of 
what he is trying to shape. Correctness of mental grasp, neat- 
ness, and all other qualities of right thinking are even more 
readily expressed in this way than by written work. It is one 
way of giving an examination that avoids the outgrown ten- 
question system. As faithfulness of representation and no: 
artistic work is the basis of judgment of the pupil's ideas, the 
plan is eminently fair to all. 

Solids of various shapes and sizes may be made in this 
way and kept ready for use. A small globe made from some 
material used for this purpose is always convenient for use in 
the geography class in teaching change of seasons, longitude, 
latitude and various other points that should be presented 
through the senses rather than abstractly at first. 

2. There are several kinds of material that may be used for 
this purpose. Potter's clay is one that is convenient and has 
many things in its favor. It can be secured through the supply 
houses and often it is to be had locally at a very much lower 
rate. Putty is always available if it is desired to use it. For 
some kinds of permanent relief work it is very good. Another 
kind of material is made from the best quality of whiting mixed 
with one- third its own amount by measure of wheat flour. By 
the addition of cold water this may be made into a paste that will 
make satisfactory relief forms. Equal parts of coarse salt and 
flour mixed into a stiff dough can be used with entire success 
by any one without the advantage of previous experience. 
But best and cheapest of all is the material that may be made 
from the ordinary newspaper, and which when made is com- 
monly known as paper pulp. To prepare this all that is neces- 
sary is some old papers, a pan with water, a little patience and 
some work. The papers are prepared by tearing into leaves 
about the size of the pages of an ordinary text book. These 
small sheets should then be laid singly into the pan of water. 
seeing that each becomes thoroughly wet as it is placed. After 
soaking for six to ten hours, or even less, the pulp may be made 
by rubbing the sheets of paper between the hands until it is 
perfectly free from lumps or evidences of small bits of paper. 
This can be preserved indefinitely by keeping it moist, or by 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 83 

allowing it to dry and then soaking it again in water. Work that 
has been done and has served its purpose so that it need not 
be preserved longer can be used by moistening for new forms. 
Slates are convenient to use in all pulp work, as they are not 
injured by water. Also maps and the like when dry may be 
lifted off and mounted on blue card board, leaving the slate 
for repeated use. The other materials should be used on 
boards or straw board where the work can be left, as it adheres 
very firmly. Aside from the fact that it is so readily removed 
the pulp is more desirable in the hands of pupils, because it is 
perfectly clean, and so easily managed, as it never sticks to the 
fingers. This paper material or the flour and salt mixture 
either may be colored to show various features as the teacher 
may desire, by use of ink or cheap dyes, or the paraffined col- 
ored crayon. It may be well to remark here that colors used in 
this way should have purpose in making essential features stand 
out distinctly, rather than that they should be used for show 
alone. 

For modeling in a less permanent form or on a larger scale 
the common sand table is of great use. In still larger units 
made readily on the school room floor, such as models of forts, 
battle fields, river basins, cities, and similar areas, sawdust is 
very satisfactory material, being clean, Hght and easily removed 

IV.— THE EMPTY CRAYON BOX. 

As this stands it has value in illustrating the mechanics of 
the making of a box. It may well represent the lumber of larger 
length and greater thickness used in other structures. The 
groove in which the cover slides, the mortices and the tenons 
that hold the ends and sides together, and sometimes the illus- 
tration of the dove-tail joints, all combine to make it worth pre- 
serving. By calculating its cubical contents it may become a 
convenient school room measuring unit. By cutting off an end 
at the proper place the dry quart, liquid quart, the liter may be 
readily made. A sharp knife and a few of the furniture nails 
previously mentioned are all the tools needed for this. Ends 
and sides holding as they do by mortise and tenon may be set 
to show various angels. Drawing models can thus be secured 



84 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

to give some variation. All parts of the box furnish materiab 
for models of surface forms, rectangles, triangles, etc. Deci- 
meter rulers, six inch measures may be in the hands of pupils 
and used enough to fix them in mind with no trouble or ex- 
pense. The physiology class can get a good idea of the real 
capacity of the lungs by means of the calculation of cubic space 
in the crayon box and making comparisons with the statement 
of the text as to the air space in the lungs. A good model to rep- 
resent the draw bridge mentioned in a reading lesson was quicklv 
made from the side and end as they are jointed by a teacher 
recently. These are suggestions; others will find more ways 
yet to make this box supply illustrative material. A model 
of a canal lock has also been made from material from the cray- 
on box and some leather hinges. 

The ordinary shade stick may furnish some help to the ex- 
ercises of the school. A yard stick, showing feet and inches 
is at the command of any teacher. The meter with all its di- 
visions can be had for the slightest effort. Nearly all arith- 
metics have the decimeter measure shown. A piece of paper cut 
the length of this measure and laid ten times on the shade 
stick gives the meter, this can have the decimeters, centimeters 
and millimeters shown. Pupils may and should thus be as fa- 
miliar with the metric system as with the common inconvenient 
set of denominate number tables, and thus the advantage of the 
metric system would impress itself and the superstition as to 
difficulty of its use would gradually die away. If our money 
system is a success, then the decimal system of denominate 
numbers would be equally successful. 

The progressive teacher is continually making use of com- 
mon materials and finds her funds never fully exhausted 
Think and try. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 85 

TEACHING IN INTERMEDIATE AND 
GRAMMAR GRADES. 
I. 
Reading. 

In no other subject does the preparation for the work and 
the work itself assume a more distinct difference of character 
than in that of teaching oral reading. Far too much of the 
work that is commonly done as teaching reading is only prepar- 
ing for the reading exercise. The teacher's study of the prob- 
lem, then, divides itself, in the main, into two phases, viz.: the 
study of the accessories and mechanics of the process, and the 
assignment and conducting of the reading lesson proper. 

47.— PREPARATION AND ACCESSORIES. 

I. Mastery of words. This is essential before the pupil 
can read at all, and yet it is not distinctly a reading class exer- 
cise more than it should be an operation in the study of other 
subjects. The vocabulary of the pupil must grow from the lists 
of words coming into it through the history, geography, arith- 
metic, language and other occupations of the school as well as 
through the reading exercises. Words are the mere signs of 
ideas, and ideas are to be secured from these subjects as clearly 
as from the reading book. In fact the way the teaching is gener- 
ally done in some schools the thought of the pupil is that he is 
accountable for ideas in the other subjects and simply for book- 
holding, standing erect, managing his breathing, careful artic- 
ulation, accurate pronunciation of words in the reading period. 
The teacher of any subject who allows the pupil to pass over a 
significant word without getting into his mind the appropriate 
idea symbolized by the word, is guilty of spoiling his reading 
as truly as the reading teacher does when she allows the me- 
chanical part of the exercise to monopolize the time and neg- 
lects the thought side of the process. The teacher when an 
instructor in history, geography, arithmetic and the like, can 
not be careless of the thought and the necessary training in 
seeing what is under the words if she expects to have good 



83 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

readers in her class. Frequently it is said that the reason the 
pupil fails in arithmetic, grammar, and his work in college, is 
because he can not read. It is equally fair to cast back this 
statement and say that the reason he does not read well is be- 
cause he uses the terms of these branches without an adequate 
idea of their meaning, and thus acquires habits of mind that 
induce him to look upon all exercises in a careless and indif- 
ferent way. 

The mastery of a word signifies a recognition of its form 
as that form shows itself in the power of the letters composing 
the word, and thus finding the proper pronunciation of the 
word. This form mastery while very essential has little more 
to do with reading aloud than it should have to do with other 
topics. The content of the word must likewise be grasped if 
it is to be rendered in appropriate tones. Its power in the par- 
ticular place that it may be occupying has to be recognized. 
Why that word instead of some other word almost synonymous? 
In like manner the mastery of a word means an advance in the 
power of the child to form correct imagesof things suggested 
but not present to the senses. The diacritical marks of the dic- 
tionary are an essential element in the process of fully under- 
standing words, but it is not necessarily a reading exercise to 
have the class in reading make such study of the dictionary 
more than for other subjects. 

There are a number of things to engage the attention of 
the teacher in his attempt to lead the pupils to acquire new 
words. In the first place the learner must feel his need of know- 
ing the word. This can be impressed upon him simply by his 
realizing that he must have the thought of the sentence and 
through his effort to master that he finds he must know each 
word in its fullest meaning. This leads to the suggestion that 
the pupil must learn that many of his words are most readily 
learned through the context. He finds that he cannot get the 
full sense of what he reads without understanding some par- 
ticular word, and thus sets about the mastery of that word. 
In much the same way he realizes that the meaning must be 
what he can reasonably surmise it to be with quite a satisfac- 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 87 

tory degree of accuracy through the other words of the sen- 
tence which he already understands. This sets up a process 
of reasoning that is valuable in itself, and in every way helpful 
to his progress as a reader. Teach the pupil to try the context to 
get the meaning, and then confirm himself by other means when in 
doubt. 

2. Sounds and syllables. Early in his career as a student 
the child should come to recognize the fact that the letters of 
the alphabet of which the words he is trying to read are com- 
posed, stand as symbols to the eye of sounds, most ol whicli 
are already familiar to his ear. Instead of dropping these 
sounds or the tendency to attack the new word by means of 
them he should be more ready as the years go by to make use 
of the principle of phonetic spellmg or of "sounding" for correct 
pronunciation. Very good results can be attained without a 
cumbersome list of rules by constantly applying the tests that 
are at hand, and thus gradually extending them until all the 
sounds represented by single letters and the common combi- 
nations are at the command of the learner to enable him to 
overcome his new enemy in word lists as he meets him. Close- 
ly allied to this process is the one of syllabication. In his efforts 
to make himself strong in the command of words the pupil 
should be led to see syllables readily and accurately. Much 
time now wasted could be saved by more careful use of the 
power to recognize quickly the small units making up the 
larger word of several syllables. Sometimes the word can easily 
be seen to be made up of two very common and simple words, 
each of which the child could pronounce and understand with- 
out difficulty if his attention were directed in the right channel. 
Have pupils master sounds and constantly use them in trying to 
overcome new words. In like manner make all possible use of the 
process of dividing into syllables. 

3. Explanation, etymology. There are several other ele- 
ments in this process of word mastery that are very essential. 
Explanation through use of synonym or antonym is frequently 
the best method available. Illustration by means of a drawing, 
an object, or an action is another way of making the meaning 
of the word clear. Using the word in a sentence prepared with 



88 lOAVA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

Other words, all of which have a clear meaning to the pupil, will 
enforce its power. The etymology sometimes is the best road 
to the desired end. Finally, definition and description step in to 
confirm and make sure all other attempts. All definitions 
should be tried, however, by the pupil by substituting the defi- 
nition in the context of the word itself. No class of pupils is too 
far advanced to moke use of all these devices for mastering new 
words. 

48.— PURPOSE AND MEANING OF WHOLE SELEC- 
TION. 

Next to his effort to master words, not in importance 
necessarily, for these processes can not be separated into pri- 
mary and secondary activities, is the one of getting the mean- 
ing of the entire selection and of each essential part. This leads 
to the question of assignment of the lesson. In all subjects 
this part of the teacher's duties is far more important than the 
time and skill in making it would suggest to the ordinary ob- 
server. It is the seed time of the study period and the recita- 
tion combined. To assign a reading lesson so that it will re- 
quire and secure study from the pupil is no small undertaking. 
Also to so lay out the work that the dullest may find something 
of profit for his efforts and the brightest may employ all his 
time, and energy to advantage, requires forethought and good 
judgment. A leading reason for the fruitless reading lesson is 
the poor assignment. 

Pupils should feel as much responsibility for definite re- 
sults in the study of a reading lesson as in the study of one in 
arithmetic, history, geography, or language. If the selection 
to be read is not too long to be read in the study period by the 
class, the entire piece should be given for reading first as a 
whole. This should isnable the child to see the purpose of the 
author in writing the article as it may seem to him with his 
state of mind that the author intended it. It may be best to 
use other terms rather than to talk to the class of the author's 
purpose, or of the lesson that he intends us to get, especially if 
by that the pupil feels that he is to determine the moral of the 
piece. One of the following questions may be suggestive as to 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 89 

the way to propose to the child what he is to do. Read the 
entire selection and determine what the author says to you in 
it. What do you think the entire piece means when you have 
read it all very thoughtfully? Why did the author write it? 
What does it seem to you the writer has said in the whole 
poem? Get what you think the author was trying to teach when 
he wrote this. What to you is the writer's thought? The pupil 
should be as accountable for his answer to this problem set for 
him in the reading book as for one in arithmetic. He should 
be expected to bring his results to the recitation carefully worked 
out in definite language and written on slate or tablet just as 
he would bring in the fruits of his investigations and study in 
other subjects. The results need not all agree, in fact they 
probably should not agree, as the grasp of the meaning of any 
standard selection is a relative rather than an absolute matter. 
Each pupil is to reach some conclusion for himself, and to record 
it to bring to the class with him. To fail to be ready with this 
is as much a failure as that of any other lesson. A sensible 
discussion of the results obtained by the study of the various 
members should lead to some reasonable conclusion that may 
be the common opinion of class and teacher, rather than a de- 
cision that should be absolutelv final. There is no other place 
where the judgment of the pupil may be more properly exer- 
cised than in his interpretations of the literature that he reads 
in his school reading book. He should be led in forming his 
opinions, but not forced into the position taken by teacher or 
other members of the class. So long as he can give a sensible 
reason for the position he takes he has a right to his way of 
thinking, and even at times his judgment should be respected 
when he can give no more plausible argument than, "1 believe 
that is so because it seems so to me." Look for whole units and 
have pupils study them as such and bring in the results thus obtained. 
49.— STUDY OF PARTS. 
When the meaning of the selection as a whole has been de- 
termined by the pupil he should in a similar way attack the 
parts. Sometimes these parts may be found to be several stan- 
zas or paragraphs that seem to have a relation to the same cen- 
tral thought. If this is seen to be true the attention of the 



90 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

class should be called to it at the time of the assignment, and 
appropriate suggestions made for its study somewhat after the 
manner of the study of the entire piece. In like manner the 
smaller units of paragraph or stanza should be examined to de- 
termine what the force or meaning of each may be in the light 
of the end the pupil has selected as the thought of the author 
in writing the extract under consideration. It can readily be seen 
that this process can be carried out to the meaning of sentences 
and to the impotant words themselves. Such study will require 
of the pupil thoughtful attention to everything within the selec- 
tion itself that can be of service in making its meaning stand out 
fully. The class should come to the recitation with these points 
settled in their own minds and some means of recording the re- 
sults of their study should be used. Sometimes the paper of the 
pupil may contain a topical outline of the ideas he finds in the 
lesson arranged in their proper order. In some lessons drawings 
may be made to suggest the thought in parts of the selection. 
At the assignment a series of questions may be proposed that will 
require careful study and the answers required to be given in 
writing. A written statement of the thing, or things, and persons 
that have part in making the piece and an estimate of what each 
has to do in giving meaning to the lesson, may sometimes bring 
the best results from the effort of pupils in study. There should 
be constant effort on the part of the teacher to have members 
of the class picture vividly in the mind and state accurately the 
pictures and the part of the lesson furnishing each picture. These 
are given as suggestions for varying the manner of having the 
preparation shown, but the preparation should be made and 
shown in some way. The extent to which the study of any se- 
lection is to be pushed depends entirely upon the ability of the 
class, but every grade should feel that thought is the essential 
thing in every reading lesson. Have the pupil seek a sensible end 
as the object at which the author was aiming in his writing. See 
that they then determine the meaning and pictures of each part as 
contributing to that end. 

50.— GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SETTINGS. 
Another of the legitimate accessories of the reading lesson 
is the study of the geographical setting of the piece. It may 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 91 

have a local coloring due to season, place, or occupations that 
should be mastered. Historical allusions are appropriate matter 
to engage the powers of the child in his effort to see into the 
mysteries of the thing in hand. Some study of the author should 
be made when possible in so far as this will throw light upon the 
selection or add interest to the recitation or study period. The 
work here mentioned is not for the accumulation of geographical 
facts, learning of historical events, or an acquaintance with men 
and women excepting as these side lights may help in the reading 
exercises of the school. 

51.— THE TEACHER'S QUALIFICATION. 

I. Incidental. It is said of a woman teaching in a New 
England female seminary about seventy-five years ago, that she 
could so teach arithmetic, grammar and similar common 
branches, that a girl might obtain from them a mental power far 
above that which her brother received in the Latin and Greek 
studies at college. The writer of the article from which the in- 
formation in the previous sentence is obtained gives the follow- 
ing sentence near the close. 'The reader of this article will 
come to the conclusion that superior teaching can only be per- 
formed by one who takes life seriously." "Beware," she says, 
"of allowing a young girl to value herself according to her facil- 
ity in reciting." The view of the teacher given here and the one 
that may be taken of the pupil will serve to help one to get a 
clearer vision of the position of the teacher of reading. 

There is too much of a tendency in the common view of the 
teaching of this subject to look at it almost entirely from the 
standpoint of the activity of the pupil in the recitation period. 
Something is expected of him in the way of preparation, it is 
true, but it is so indefinite and has so little relation to the life 
giving power of the extract that is under consideration that he 
is satisfied to make very little effort in studying his reading les- 
son, and his teacher is almost powerless in her attempts to induce 
him to study. The preparation of the teacher is a primary essen- 
tial in the attainment of the desired end in this subject as in all 
others. This preparation is both remote and immediate. First 
she should be a person that looks upon the question of the study 



92 lOAVA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

and teaching of the literary values of the standard works given 
intelligently and seriously. To think of being able to teach 
reading without hard and persistent study is to be willing to 
give chafif for grain, and to do one's work very superficially and 
with little life giving inspiration to the class. One feature of the 
remote preparation is for the teacher to be constantly improving 
her tastes by thoughtful reading of simple but pure productions 
of the masters. This need not be the critical lexicon, reader's 
hand-book, and encyclopedia study for the exhaustion of the de- 
tails of the readings, but rather that phase of study that looks for 
pictures, for effects upon the sentiments, for inspiration, for 
beauty, and for high ideals. The person who has no desire or in- 
clination to make the use of standard literature here suggested 
ought to spare the children by finding some other occupation, 
and not try to become a teacher. Blessed, indeed, are the pupils 
of that teacher who finds so much of beauty and of interest in 
the extracts that are necessarily given in the readers that she can 
not be contented until she has seen them in their setting in the 
complete work. Preparation for teaching reading is not made in 
a day, it is a thing of constant, persistent effort, not so much with 
the definite understanding of just the place that the accumulation 
of each day will be applied, but with the feeling that sometime, 
somewhere, the efforts of the present will bear fruit. How can 
a pupil go from his school days with a love for the best in litera- 
ture and a taste for it if his teacher has not been able to impress 
him with the fulness and power of this same literature by her 
completeness and inspiration drawn from the same source? As 
the teacher so the pupil. Each day should make some contri- 
bution to the teacher's stock in trade in the line of mastery of 
good literature. Always reading with all the faculties awake and 
seeing vividly in all study is another of the remote means of be- 
coming a better teacher of reading. 

2. Immediate. The immediate preparation of the teacher 
for the reading lesson is in some respects very similar to that 
which the pupil is expected to make. This should not be such a 
very trying matter if the teacher is as well qualified as the remote 
preparation assumes. There will be words, allusions, figures to 
look up, geographical and historical points to settle, something 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 93 

of the author to be known, and a reasonable determination of the 
proper interpretation of the selection to be made. When these 
are made as complete as it is possible for the teacher to make 
them for herself with the time at command, she should be far 
enough in advance of the thought of the class to feel well filled 
with matter and inspiration to lead the class intelligently. She 
must still realize that it is she that is exhausted and not the ex- 
tract she has been studying. This should lead to a realization 
that the pupil will have to stop short of the full grasp, and it will 
be his great good fortune if he can be led to see that he has not 
touched the lowest depth of meaning before his interest is al- 
lowed to fiag, for then he will leave his work with a feeling that 
he wants sometime to re-read that piece and he will be delighted 
when he reads it again to find that it contains new beauties for 
him. 

The most perplexing thing in the immediate preparation is 
the planning of the work so as to have the class get from it what 
the nature of the piece to be read would seem to suggest that they 
should get. This is in great measure one of devices, such as 
questions, objects, maps, drawings, pictures, and the like, that 
will assist in making the thought clear to the class. It is not 
enough to tell the pupil to look up these matters for himself. 
His teacher must lead the way and inspire by example as well as 
urge by precept. The end is to be seen that the selection should 
accomplish for the pupil and everything made to bend to bring 
about that end. Several things may be enumerated to be kept 
in mind. The piece should leave him with a little more desire 
to read something of the same kind than he had when he began it. 
His stock of general facts should probably have grown. His 
power to picture to the mind and his progress "toward abstract 
truth should have developed somewhat. There should probably 
be a silent, subtle influence touching him that is too impercept- 
ible to make him feel that it is the moral of the lesson made vis- 
ible, and yet such that it touches his motives and unconsciously 
tends to shape his acts. These are enough to try the skill of any 
teacher. All things considered, a taste for good literature is 
" probably well in the, lead of all the blessings to be conferred upon 



94 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

the child by his public school experience. How can that be ini • 
planted when the noblest and best in literature is made the 
crippled hobby of a mere word-pronouncing, prosy, time- 
serving teacher? It would almost seem sometimes that less 
of injury would come to the mind or taste of the pupil in the use 
of selections of less literary merit, since the exercise so often is 
such as to disgust or at least fail to arouse the pupil's interest in 
the tone of the selection, and thereby breeds in him a certain dis- 
respect for what is lofty and purest. The road to better reading 
work lies through the realm of the teacher's preparation, taste, 
and fancies even more fully than in the pupil's study and the me- 
chanical humdrum reading exercise. Pictures with their pur- 
pose must first' be formed in the mind of the teacher before they 
can take shape in the mind of the pupils. Truth is the only 
thing that has true developing power in the mind, and its mastery 
in literature is even more essential to right sentiments and mo- 
tives in life than it would generally seem to be in science and 
mathematics. 
52.— THOUGHT AND MECHANICS OF EXPRESSION. 
Thought is at the foundation of all sensible reading. It is by 
no means a waste of time to study much and read orally very lit- 
tle, at times, in the recitation period. Some teachers think that 
nothing is being done in the line of teaching reading unless there 
is a pupil standing and producing sounds more or less intelligible 
or blundering painfully along in his attempts to name the words 
down to the next period. The lingering torture and misery in- 
flicted thus upon an intelligent child's mind is enough to make 
him feel, as he frequently does, that the reading period is the cli- 
max of all the dull exercises of an oftimes very dull school. Put 
life and vim into the reading and the reflex action will bring rich 
rewards in the other subjects. 

Pronunciation, articulation, time, force, quality of voice, 
pitch, position of the pupil, book holding and kindred matters 
should receive the most careful attention, but they should be 
given attention as a part of the study and preparation for the oral 
reading, and not be allowed to intrude into the oral exercise to 
such a degree as to take the attention of the pupil from the ex- 
pression of the thought. He ought not to try to render the 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 95 

thought until he has the tools for doing the work well at his com- 
mand. One paragraph read thoughtfully after the questions of 
pronunciation, time, pitch and like accessories have been 
determined by a study leading to a sensible under- 
standing of the thought, is worth a dozen drawling 
prosy exercises requiring frequent aid from the teacher 
in naming the words. In such work the time is not 
regarded, and cannot be, and neither can any of the others 
of the elements of expression. Drills for improving the pupils 
in articulation, in managing the breath, in standing erect and in 
proper position fot good expression should be given, but it 
should be distinctly understood that these are but the aids to 
reading and should be taken as such, and generally at times en- 
tirely separated from the real attempts at rendering the thought 
of one of the good selections given to be read. The understand- 
ing of the thought should take care of the time, pitch, quality 
and force. 

53.— QUESTIONING BEFORE READING. 

Aside from the preparation that it has been suggested in 
former pages that the pupil should be required to make, there 
should be sharp and lively questioning of entire class before the 
attempt at reading. Generally this should be done with the book 
open and the questions made so that the answer can be read 
from the book, thus answering in the words of the author rather 
than in the pupil's own words. Much of the talking done by 
pupils in response to the stereotyped question, "Who can tell us 
what the lesson is about?" is of the most useless and senseless 
kind. The questions should aim at bringing out the thought in 
the language of the author, and in this way as a preparation for 
the reading of entire paragraphs much oral reading of a profit- 
able kind is done, and yet it should not be looked upon as read- 
ing, but simply one of the last attempts at getting the thought 
firmly fixed in the mind so that later it may be fully expressed 
in the reading. Good, sensible questioning, free from the minc- 
ing question, should be done before the reading. What is the 
value to come from having pupils read and then question for the 
thought that is the only thing that can insure good reading? 



96 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

When the reader shows by his reading that he does not have 
the thought after all effort has been made to have him get it, 
there then may be something done to clear it up and improve his 
reading by questioning him and the other members of the class, 
and he or another may then re-read, but simply questioning 
without definite purpose in trying to have that improve the read- 
ing is of little use nt this late stage in the exercise. Likewise to 
ask the pupil who has failed to read again without anything to 
guide him in seeing where he made his mistake, is a waste of 
time, and will quite likely fix the very fault more firmly, while 
the intention was to remove it. Many questions should be given 
in such a manner that the pupil cannot answer without giving 
the emphasis to the proper word if he answers the question intel- 
ligently. The time for severe criticism for peculiarities of speech, 
inaccuracies of pronunciation and similar faults has passed be- 
fore the real exercise of reading began. Everything should be so 
managed as to relieve the reader of all traces of self conscious- 
nes.-,. thus leaving him free to give himself entirely to the render- 
ing of the thought and not allowing himself to be hindered by 
thought"; of the mistakes he may be making. Very many of the 
criticisms made by pupils on the reading of their fellows should 
be prevented by not allowing the mistakes to occur by carefully 
finding out before hand what was likely to be done by the one 
reading, and remove the difficulty before he reads. Some of the 
remaining mistakes may wisely be ignored. Thus there will be 
few adverse criticisms to be given by pupils. Rather than many 
such criticisms the minds oi- members of the class should be di- 
iccled to the excellencies of the reading. 

54.— RECOGNITION OF DISCORD. 

Finally, the teacher of reading should have much of the 
quality of a good band leader who knows by his ear when every- 
thing is going right, and who by instinct guides in time and ex- 
pression by the attitude and expression of his body, hands and 
face. It should be as evident to the teacher when incorrect time, 
improper pitch, poor quality of voice are manifested by the 
reader as it is to the orchestra leader when the first violin is "out 
of tune." The discords in the expression of pure, noble thought 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 97 

in a literary way are just as prevalent as they are in the musical 
world, and the teacher should recognize this and prevent the 
lowering cf taste by seeing that the rendering is worthy of the 
thought 

Aside from their own untiring efforts, teachers of reading 
may find mucb help in the following books. McMurry's Special 
Method in Reading; Hinsdale's Teaching the Language Arts; 
Clark's, How to Teach Reading in the Public Schools; and Ar- 
nold'.s Reading: How to Teach It. 

H. 

Spelling. 

55.— WHY MISTAKES OCCUR. 

There are two reasons why pupils and people m 
general do things wrong. These are ignorance and carelessness. 
Faults in spelling are all due to these two causes. It is quite 
probable that the mistakes found in any ordinary work of the 
school may be charged about equally to each of these causes. 
Indifference and want of confidence are hindrances. There 
is a marked degree of indifference as to the necessity of good 
spelling in the minds of pupils in general. Some think that poor 
spelling, like poor penmanship, is a mark of genius. It may be 
allowable for the real genius to violate all law and custom in this 
subject, but the comman man must know how to spell correctly, 
and the common school must teach him. Indifference should be 
met with earnest enthusiasm. Want of confidence must be over- 
come by making the question of spelling correctly so easy that 
all may catch a ray of hope and thus be inspired lo put forth in- 
creased effort. 

These are not insurmountable difficulties and should be met 
with a strong purpose and a firm determination on the part of 
the teacher. 

56.— TEACHING, NOT TESTING, SHOULD PREVAIL. 

At too early stages in the pupil's experience the spelling ex- 
ercises are made of the nature of tests almost entirely, and not 
enough is done to avoid the opportunity for making mistakes. 



98 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

It costs more to correct one mistake than it does to teach two 
facts correctly. There is a time for reasonable test in the spell- 
ing exercises as in all other subjects, but far more of the pupil's 
lime should be given to doing the right thing than in attempting 
what is beyond him, and thus fixing his mistakes through fatal 
blundering. Very frequently the tests put upon the child in this 
branch are such that he readily excuses himself for his mistakes, 
and therefore makes no definite effort to rise above the difficulty. 
Correct spelling is in a marked degree a question of proper habit. 
Since correcting errors is much harder than preventing them, in 
most cases, it should be the purpose in all ways possible to form 
the right habits from the start. 

57._SOUND NOT A CORRECT GUIDE. 
An examination of the papers written by little people when 
left to their own direction, shows a distinct tendency toward 
phonetic spelling, which is a fatal thing in our present lawless 
system. The eye and not the ear must be the guide very nearly 
all the time at first, and never should it be fully abandoned. 
Many things that children even well along in the grades give 
orally might well be written on the board by the teacher to be 
accurately copied by the pupil afterward, rather than to have him 
try to write it for himself and misspell numerous words. Much 
poor spelling is due to an undue pressure for originality in the 
language of the child. His language from the first has been 
largely a matter of imitation, and if he has once helped in giving 
the thought of th'! class orally, the correct writing of it should be 
made very easy and practically assured. 

58.— TEACHING THROUGH COPYING, TESTING BY 

DICTATION. 

Very much, of the pupil's effort in the preparation of his 
spelling lesson should consist of absolutely accurate copying of 
the lesson from the book to be handed to his teacher at the open- 
ing of the recitation period. If one is inclined to think this too 
easy let him try it for himself and he will find a test of his powers 
that he little expects. In the recitation period let the child copy 
words, sentences and paragraphs after the teacher- as they are 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 99 

written on the board. Some of this may be from the lesson that 
he has studied. Much of it should be of similar grade, but new. 
All of it should be understood before it is copied. Any mistakes 
made here, and there will be many, are due to carelessness 
and should be made right at once and the habit of care and accu- 
racy formed at the same time. The term dictation here is used 
in the broad sense of the "giving out" of words or sentences for 
the pupil to catch by ear and then spell from memory or habit. 
These dictation exercises should generally be taken from things 
that have been accurately copied a number of times. Some easy 
new matter should be given often enough for the teacher to dis- 
cover where the greatest weaknesses lie in order that these weak 
places may be made strong. In dictating words or sentences 
the teacher should give all that the pupil is required to carry in 
mind with the book closed. The class should listen attentively 
until the teacher ceases speaking, and then write. While they 
write the teacher may look at the book for the next matter to 
dictate. Speak in quiet but distinct utterance and try to have all 
catch the dictation from one effort. 

59.— RULES, DRILLS AND INSPIRATIONAL DEVICES. 

When pupils are far enough along to have a vocabulary of 
their own that will furnish examples by which they can be led 
inductively to discover some of the more simple rules that are 
helpful in mature life, these rules might be or should be taught. 
The words that have given especial difficulty should be arranged 
for reviews by copying and by a few minutes concentrated at- 
tention upon a few at a time on the board to be written from 
memory after they are erased. Calling attention to special diffi- 
culties in certain words is a valuable practice. Writing little 
stories with certain words to appear in them will not only help 
to get the words used, but will help in the pupil's language. The 
words may well be put on the board so there shall be no mistake 
in the spelUng in such an exercise unless the teacher is quite sure 
the class can all spell them correctly. Oral spelling has a place 
as a drill and an inspirational device. Some time should be given 
to it. At times the class may slowly name the letters of a word 
\\hile the teacher or a pupil writes it on the board. It is well to 



IQQ IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

let them name the letters in concert slowly, so that they may 
be impressed upon the sense of hearing while all write the word 
on paper. This can be done quietly as shouting is in no means 
a necessary attribute of concert drill. Words pronounced alike, 
but spelled differently, should not be given, if given at all, in 
pairs, until late in the course when the pupil is so well grounded 
in the meaning and spelling of each that their relation can in no 
sense confuse him. This is a dangerous device for arousing in- 
terest and should be used cautiously. Word building may some- 
times add interest to a spelling exercise. The old fashionea 
"spelling match" had its benefits that should not be entirely ig- 
nored. In all these exercises, however, the aim should be to 
have incorrect spelling fall upon the eye or ear of the pupil just 
as little as possible. Finally, make it as easy for pupils as pos- 
sible, and then expect proper results when conditions are made 
favorable for them. 

III. 

Geography. 

60— IMPROVEMENT IN TEXT-BOOKS AND TEACH- 
ER'S VIEW. 

In his report on the correlation of studies the Commissioner 
of Education for the United States, Wm. T. Harris, places Geog- 
raphy as "second only to Arithmetic among the branches that 
correlate man to nature." Such recognition along with the con- 
stant growth that is evident in the study of the subject in the 
best of universities and colleges gives good excuse for the public 
school teacher to make the most careful preparation for the pre- 
sentation of the foundation principles in the elementary schools. 
Within the last few years there has been such an improvement 
in the text books and other devices used in the teaching of this 
branch that there is scarcely any excuse for poor work and un- 
interested classes in this subject longer. In fact, the problem is 
at present becoming somewhat serious as to the best things to 
select and teach and what that is being loaded upon the teacher 
of geography should be thrown ofif as interesting but dispensible 
matter. However, from the great fund of sensible material and 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 101 

the excellent helps at the command of the common teacher there 
is reason to rejoice in the hope that something better is in store 
for the children in coming days than has been the good fortune 
oi many in the days gone by. 

Those teachers in any line who see in the branches they are 
teaching the fundamental relations that the matter under consid- 
eration bears to the real life of the pupil and the purposes of the 
thing studied, are always the best teachers. One whose efforts 
have had much to do in elevating the teaching of geography to 
its proper place has well said, "We must elevate ourselves to the 
moral world to understand the physical world; the physical world 
has no meaning except by and for the moral world. It is, in fact, 
the universal law of all that exists in finite nature, not to have, 
in itself, either the reason or the entire aim of its own existence." 
This lays a broad and deep foundation for the teaching of such 
a material subject, since it removes the motive from material 
things alone to the higher and truer plane of intellectual and 
moral worth. While the fundamental needs of man, food, cloth- 
ing, and shelter, will still appeal to the ordinary man as the most 
powerful stimuli to the activities that direct the efforts of the 
race, and while all good teachers will continue to recognize this 
as a part of the purpose in all work, they will also see the higher 
motive crowning their efforts with a value not born alone of the 
physical utility sentiment. 

To the earnest teacher, then, the earth is not a mere mate- 
rial thing, but it becomes instead the complement of man by 
challenging him to a combat with phy^sical forces that by action 
and reaction develop him in all the elements of his nature, phys- 
ical, mental, and moral. This improvement that has come in the 
line of geography teaching in the past years has led away from 
the old and barren ideas of dead forms to something with life 
and inspiration in it. From the sailor geography of capes, head- 
lands, bays and harbors, or the traveling man's mental picture of 
railroad lines and dots for cities on the map as the exclusive ef- 
fort of the child, it has developed into a study that breathes of 
landscapes with brooks and meadows, farms of waving grain 
and grazing herds, railroads with steel rails and panting locomo- 
tives, and cities bustling with commercial life. 



■^Q2 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, 

6 1. —VALUE. 

On its lower or fact side alone, the subject in this day of the 
telephone and daily paper with rural delivery, is of great value. 
To read the modern newspaper intelligently requires an under- 
standing of the laws of climate and an instinctive knowledge of 
localities never before so necessary. But aside from its commer- 
cial value, as an instrument of education and as a means of mental 
development it should hold a place scarcely second even to any 
of the other subjects now taught in the common school. There 
is no locality, be it in city or country, where one can step out of 
doors without coming directly into touch with facts that impress 
the senses with percepts that are useful in the study of some 
phase of this subject. In connection with the materials gathered 
by the actual contact with things there is also the fund of images 
formed by the use of the receptive imagination as the descrip- 
tions of people and regions are read in magazines, papers and 
books. From these and the ideas gathered from actual experi- 
ence, the constructive imagination delights to build new and real 
views of things and places still unseen to the physical eye. 
Travel and direct observation are great educators, and should 
be utilized whenever possible when one has the mental develop- 
ment that makes it possible for him to interpret what he sees. 
Not far behind these, however, are the neighborhood rambles 
supplemented by library journeys that are within the reach of al- 
most any teacher, no matter how circumscribed the conditions 
may seem to be. The healthy imagination and its vigorous use 
are healthy blessings that* may be made to multiply the powers 
many fold. No other subject furnishes better opportunity for the 
cultivation of imaginative powers that may literally as well as 
figuratively be kept on the earth. While there is a wide range 
for growth in this particular, there is still so much of material 
reality that the mind cannot run ofif into the realm of day-dreams, 
but it can "see beyond the range of sight." It is the right of 
every child that he should have all the cultivation of this faculty 
that any and all of his school studies will give him so long as 
realities of sense and reason are not bankrupted and violated. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 103 

62.— STARTING POINT. 

Every child when he enters the public school has a rich store 
of mental products laid away ready to attach themselves to such 
new ideas and experiences as show themselves to be closely 
enough related to deserve a welcome from the ideas already at 
home in the mind. Even before he enters the school at all he has 
a clear knowledge of the fact of change of seasons. He sees the 
birds come and go and knows something of seedtime and harvest. 
The milkman's visits, the call of the grocery order boy and the 
delivery boy's rounds give him fundamental notions of products, 
needs of these and the means of securing the things through 
commerce to supply those needs. The clothing that he wears 
and the coal that cooks his food and keeps him warm in winter, 
are ever present materials for his investigation. The growth of 
plants never fails to attract his attention. All these are his in 
almost any community, or if not these, others just as valuable 
are at hand. He has been in the geographical laboratory all his 
life, and he should never fully graduate from it in all his years of 
study. The problem in his early school course is to take him just 
as he is and build upon the foundation already laid, after some 
remodeling, a seperstructure of the broader concepts of the world 
and its relations to human life. Too much is it the custom to 
ignore the child and what he has at hand as materials with which 
to begin and fix upon him an arbitrary system of facts not at all 
suited to what he already knows when his teacher discovers him. 
When he reaches the higher grades the recognition of what he is 
and knows is even more essential than formerly, and all that has 
gone before should be at command constantly to interpret and 
illuminate the new ideas that must begin to crowd in upon him. 
It is not lack of ideas generally that hinders the progress of the 
average child, but failure on the part of the teacher to utilize 
properly what he has. 
63.— NEGLECTING THINGS PREVIOUSLY TAUGHT. 

In a former paragraph it was suggested that too frequently 
the concepts previously obtained were neglected as the pupil ad- 
vanced in the grades in his school duties. Not only is it often 
true that he is expected to learn new truth without seeing its con- 



IQ4: IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

nection with what has been acquired before, but even the truth 
of what has been taught him is overlooked and he is allowed, it 
not positively taught so to think or fail to think that his later 
knowledge is such as to utterly repudiate the truthfulness of 
what he had formerly learned as exact geographical knowledge. 
One or two illustrations from common practices will suffice to 
make this point clear, and the thoughtful teacher may then ex- 
tend the view and govern her teaching accordingly. One of the 
first things the child learns after he has laid down his fundamen- 
tals in the home geography, is the fact that the earth is practi- 
cally a sphere. He gets this as soon as he is led to look at the 
earth as a whole. When he has taken a few steps more he is 
allowed or induced to forget this and think of localities on the 
face of the earth as though they were on a flat surface. He does 
not see that the Indian of northern North America, the Lapp ot 
the Arctic borders of Europe, and the forlorn exile of the Sibe- 
rian desert might join hands and each stoutly assert to his 
neighbor that he is facing North, and yet the circle remains un- 
broken. For him the snow capped Himalayas lift their heads in 
a direction that he thinks (if he tries to think direction at all on 
the real earth), names, and points out as southwest instead of 
directly north as the direction would be named for the pupil in 
Iowa. He talks of a spherical earth and practices his thinking 
on a flat surface. Thinking and traveling may generally be done 
over widely separated routes. To think and point directly over 
Labrador in trying to see the exact location of the mouth of the 
Nile or the Red Sea is entirely within reason and the truthful 
thing for the pupil to do. That he could travel on 
that line no one affirms, but that is the line of his 
thought if the earth remains to him a sphere as he was 
taught in his earlier work. He cannot travel to Mars, but he 
may think of the location of that planet and point directly to it 
in space. For practical purposes the thinking should be kept on 
the surface and not through the earth as by the former the line 
of thought is made to coincide with geographical features, that 
thus may be kept well in mind. A teacher need not feel that 
a knowledge of spherical triganometry is necessary to give 
her a grasp of the real conditions as to direction on 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 105 

the surface of the earth, but it is well to learn from 
nature as shown by the Gulf Stream and from the 
routes of commerce wherever possible for them to use 
it that the shortest distance on a sphere is on the circumfer- 
ence of a great circle. All these points and many more may 
easily be learned from a thirty cent globe by means of a string 
by a person that will measure and think. If the earth is a sphere, 
then make all the teaching of geography conform to that theory, 
and review the old or fix it in mind by the truthful teaching of 
the new. As the home surroundings are used to give the ideas 
from which the learner may build his concept of regions not 
seen, so should the globe help as a symbol to the idea of the great 
round world. 

64.— MAPS. 

Next to the failure to have the globe teach its lessons as it 
should, comes the neglect of the help that well prepared maps 
should furnish. In his earlier course the pupil has also been 
taught to make maps of the school room, the yard, and possibly 
the immediate neighborhood, and these speak to him of por- 
tions of the advanced study of geography in the fact that they arc 
the representations of geographical surfaces on paper. Too often 
when he comes to the study of the later and larger units he 
thinks of them merely as they appear to him on the map, and 
makes no vital connection between the map and the area sup- 
posed to be thus represented. In his early experiences with the 
map it was a means to an end, in the later work it is in danger 
of becoming the end in itself. Every good teacher will make 
much use of the map and will not be over anxious at fii-st about 
thinking the real thing instead of the map, but after there has 
been such a grasp of the map of the region that relations may 
be clearly seen, then there should be every effort possible made 
to have the map perform its proper purpose by holding before 
the mind a region with features and relations while the mind 
goes beyond the face of the paper to build up correct images, oi 
the locality outlined on the paper. These forms are but arbi- 
trary symbols devised that portions of the globe may be brought 
to the attention at one view. The thing symbolized is always 



106 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

more valuable as an educational element than the symbol invent- 
ed to represent it. In notes for grades as low as the fifth grade, we 
find Col. Parker speaking as follows: "Put aside maps and ask 
questions. Test, continually, your pupils' pozver to picture the con- 
tinent zvithoitt the presence of maps." Another mistake in the use 
of maps which should be avoided is that of putting small areas 
before the class without having them see the relation to the larger 
unit of which they are parts. Each part should be seen and im- 
aged in its proper setting before being studied in detail. 

65.— THE GLOBE. 

A common error made by teachers in handling the globe 
before the class is to violate the relation of north pole of globe 
and the north star. Since the pupil has been taught that the 
north pole of the earth always points in the direction of the 
north star, the globe as a symbol of the real earth should not 
fail to enforce that truth. So far as possible the globe left stand- 
ing in the room while not in use should be kept in proper rela- 
tions to express real conditions. Likewise it frequently happens 
that in following grades after his earlier teacher has tried hard to 
impress upon the pupil that the earth rotates on its axis from 
west to east, the globe will be held before him and be rotated 
vigorously in the opposite direction. These are little things in 
themselves, but they have great value in their observance in pre- 
venting the fixing of wrong ideas or violating the truth that has 
been taught in former grades. 

66.— TEACHING LOCALITY. 

Sometimes the later texts in geography are criticised on the 
ground that by their use pupils are not well grounded in the loca- 
tion of important cities, state boundaries, directions of flow of 
rivers and similar features that compose the subject matter of the 
books of our fathers' days. It is true that such things are not 
given the prominence in these books that was formerly the cus- 
tom, but they are there however. The prominence given to the 
climate, geographical structure, and all the natural features that 
contribute to the location, prominence and industries of the city 
does not displace the other element of its existence, location. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 107 

Since more attention is given to the reasons why the city is where 
it is, there is greater inducement to know of its location as an ex- 
ample of results coming from certain causes. The study of a 
river, valley or a mountainous region to learn its importance in 
contributing to the wants of the race gives still more excuse for 
making its location a matter of careful drill. It is not now a 
question of locating for mere memory training, but locating with 
the feeling that there is reason for the things being where they 
are. Not less of understanding the exact position of geographi- 
cal features of importance, but more of an understanding why 
they are there, is the demand of the new text. The pupil should 
not only get the map location of the region he studies, but he 
should see its relation on the earth as to his own locality. He 
should feel that his lesson is never prepared while there is any 
place mentioned in comparison or directly the exact location of 
which he cannot give as to hemisphere, continent, and generally 
with some degree of accuracy as to latitude. It is not less of 
localization, but more of association of reason for the location 
that is needed and expected in the teaching of the present. 

67.— SKETCHING. 

As a means of teaching accurately and quickly the points that 
shall be carried in mind by the pupil as to location and relation 
to each other and to the home of the pupil, sketching of areas, 
small and large, should be employed. It is not details that 
should receive attention but salient features rather. The area to be 
sketched should be analyzed at first into some simple elements 
that are readily seen as outlines and features of relation that the 
pupil may easily then put on paper with such a degree of accu- 
racy that he will feel his work is creditable and that it expresses 
ideas that are seeking expression on his part. The teacher may 
use the board and pupils follow on paper. Pupils may be led to 
devise outlines and sketch areas both in the flat and relief repre- 
sentation as a means of showing their own concepts of regions 
under discussion. The class may well use the board for part of 
this work. The chief difficulty with this as with much of the 
other work attempted, is that it is put before the child in the mass 
of details instead of simple units that come clearly within his 



108 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

grasp. This sketching should be a means for expressing his 
ideas which have been obtained by study of his own locaHty and 
the use of good reHef and descriptive maps of the regions of the 
earth beyond his personal observation. In his efforts to express 
himself in this way his ideas will become clearer and should re- 
sult not in fixing the map alone in mind, but the realities of the 
region studied as well or better than the map which is only a 
device for helping the mind to classify and grasp what is too 
large to be seen without the aid of some such device. The im- 
aginative faculty should be exercised to have the real localities 
well in mind. "Lead them to imagine the coast as they draw it," 
not only sketch but think, should be the motto. 

68.— GEOGRAPHICAL READER. 

This is an instrumentality that should not be overlooked by 
the teacher. If it cannot be in the hands of the pupils the teacher 
should have access to as many of these as supplementary and to 
give new matter in an interesting way as it is possible to secure. 
These furnish more helpful information for the cost than any 
other kinds of books. By their use imaginary journeys can be 
laid out, classes prepared for the journey and finally taken in the 
reality on the trip through a sensibly trained imaginative fac- 
ulty. One of the evil tendencies that manifests itself with pupils 
and teachers in using these supplementary helps is to scatter the 
work and fail to secure that unity of concepts that insures the 
proper growth of the mind. By careful localizing and constant 
attention to the change that may thus be formed this may be 
avoided. Another injurious attitude of mind is that of looking 
upon new facts that this closer view of the peoples of remote re- 
gions gives as things to be regarded as curiosities rather than 
representative of actualities. A closer scrutiny of our own cus- 
toms might reveal things that would possibly not be easily ex- 
plained as outside the curious if that is the attitude that is to be 
taken toward what is not well understood. So far as a thing is 
regarded as a mere monstrosity or curiosity it is of little educa- 
tional value. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. IQQ 

69.— ILLUSTRATIVE AlATTER. 

In no other subject are there so many opportunities for col- 
lecting helpful illustrative matter with little expense as in geog- 
raphy. Illustrations from magazines and papers and the pic- 
tures that may be collected from the publishers of the dififerent 
series of penny pictures are frequently very serviceable. The 
railroads and steam ship lines are constantly sending out folders 
with maps, pictures, and descriptions that contain much helpful 
matter for the use of the teacher and the class. Often from these 
information of particular localities may be gained that cannot 
be found in any of the publications for reference even in well 
filled libraries. Likewise the patent parts of the local papers of 
any community often supply things needed. In the use of these 
sources the teacher should exercise care that the material may be 
known to be authentic. 

70.— TYPES AND CORRELATION. 

Much energy and time are wasted in neglecting to use prop- 
erly what has been taught in previous lessons as type forms with 
which to interpret similar new ideas. When mining in one part 
of the country or globe is well understood, all that is necessary to 
make it clear as an industry in other parts is a clear review of 
what has already been learned with such comparisons with the 
particular region as will show the dififerences from what has been 
studied, thus making the new clear and reviewing the former 
work at the same time. Everything in this subject is so naturally 
bound up in cause and effect or in similarity in contrast easily 
observed, that it is a branch that should be delightful to teach 
and that should yield a rich harvest of ideas from the teaching. 
In addition to the connection made with work in the earlier part 
of the study itself, there should also be points of union with the 
reading book and with topics in history. These efforts will not 
only add new interest to the subjects immediately in hand, but 
keep the knowledge of geography thoroughly in mind, and give 
the reading lesson and the historical fact real existence to the 
pupil. Selections from the reader can be made to re-enforce the 
work on seasons, localities, products and similar topics. Much 
that now is supposed to burden an over crowded course of study 



110 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

as nature work may well be attended to in the goegraphy hour 
to the advantage of the study of geography and the peace of 
mind of the ''fad" eradicator. 

71.— AIDS. 

The books written especially to aid the teacher in this sub- 
ject are many, and most of them are valuable. A few of the best 
are mentioned although there is no attempt to make the list ex- 
haustive. All the late text books are very helpful, especially 
when studied so as to grasp the ends in view by the writers and 
publishers. The series of geographies lately completed by Tarr 
& McMurry is worthy the careful study of any teacher as works 
on methods on teaching geography as well as for the insight into 
material that should appear in the text book. Excellent supple- 
mentary help is found in the very fine lists of geographical read- 
ers brought out by the various standard publishing houses. We 
would mention in the way of drawing and blackboard illustrat- 
ing in the subjects, Easy Drawings for the Geography Class, 
Augsburg; Tracing and Sketching Lessons, Gillan; Geography 
by Map Drawing, Kellogg, and best of this kind, for relief work, 
Chalk Modeling, the New Method of Map Drawing, Ida C. Heff- 
ron. Works of a more general type are: The Teaching of Geog- 
raphy, Geikie; King's Methods and Aids in Teaching Geog- 
raphy; Suggestions on Teaching Geography and Practical Work 
in Geography, McComiick, (two books). And another of especial 
value if read and studied until understood in fact and spirt. How 
to Study and Teach Geography. Parker. 

IV. 

History. 

72.— MAKING IT REAL. 

Every pupil knows that the events with which his experi- 
ences have associated him are composed of the following ele- 
ments. What is the action or fact discussed? Where did it take 
place? When did it happen? Who were the parties concerned? 
Why should this have come to pass? If history, is to have reali- 
ty to him it must show vividly the same elements. In other 
Avords, the events must live again in the pupil himself. Nation- 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. HI 

ality, language, modes of dress, religious ideas, educational op- 
portunities, occupation, means of travel and communication, 
weapons, and the like should be revived through the quickened 
imagination of the learner. In order that this may be accom- 
plished he must have a teacher that is alive to every interest and 
very much in earnest. The teaching should seek to create sucn 
clear pictures and arouse such feelings that the learner may be 
able in the highest degree possible to put himself into the time 
and place of the event under discussion. HistorA^ as every other 
subject ,must find its starting point in the present conditions and 
attainments of the child. The discussions, the elections, the laws, 
all experiences of the present must unite to furnish him the key 
with which he is to interpret the events that are remote in time 
and space. It is well to have the learner realize that the written 
records give but a small fraction of the actual deeds and experi- 
ences that have contributed in the past to make the present what 
it is. Therefore, from his own experiences and the few facts re- 
corded he must learn to see beyond the present into the pas: 
through imagination, judgment, and reason. The tariff and 
financial problems as they now present themselves and now dis- 
turb the public mind should be the means of his understanding 
the agitations and feelings in the "thirties." The question of the 
negro in the south to-day should speak to him of the importation 
of the first negros and the beginnings of slavery, and of the great 
civil war that grew out of those early crimes. This should broad- 
en the mind and lead the pupil into the habit of thought that 
seeks to know all that may be known before conclusions arc 
drawn. It should develop a spirit of logical conservatism that 
prevents hasty conclusions fi:om insufficient data. The pupil 
should keep himself free from harsh judgments due to the ideals 
of his day differing from the standards set up and held in former 
days. Persecutions in New England may not be defended, but 
they may be explained by the fact that such things were the cus- 
tom of the day. 

73.— THE TEXT-BOOK AND OTHER DEVICES. 

I. Text-book. However small this may be it is supposed 
to cover the entire ground. The parts may not be well balanced. 
The author may have certain tastes or certain experiences that 



112 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

have led him to attach importance to one period above another 
in undue measure. He may look too earnestly at the social, the 
political, or the industrial side of the subject. He may sacrifice 
fact and useful matter for the story of doubtful origin with a view 
to making history interesting. All these conditions the teacher 
should seek to overcome by a careful study of as many texts as 
can be secured. The interest in history must come in large meas- 
ure from the fullness of the teacher's knowledge and her love for 
the subject, rather than from any particular text-book treatment. 
The arrangement of topics is generally in chronological order. 
This is proj^ably as good as any other arrangement for the book, 
but the teacher should seek to readjust topics to make geograph- 
ical units, or connect with important events others closely related 
although not nearest in point of time. In laying out work and 
making assignment of lessons it can not be done by the number 
of pages of the text. Sometimes in a very few pages many im- 
portant events demanding a very full treatment in study and reci- 
tation are found. In other cases an extra number of pages may 
be taken as the unit of study because of the subordinate nature 
of the topics treated. A proper balance must be made and right 
ideas as to importance of items fixed in minds of pupils by the 
emphasis of time given to them. Units are to be observed in- 
stead of finding the lesson limits in the pages given. All maps 
of the text-book should be properly studied and used. Pictures 
given are too freuently ignored. Pupils should acquire the habit 
of looking upon pictures as an aid in forming correct ideas of the 
event discussed on the printed page. Whenever possible the ref- 
erences given in the text should be looked up and the class should 
at least become familiar with other sources of information even if 
these can not all be used in preparing the lesson. Through a 
collection of text-books a body of the very best suggestions to 
teachers and pupils may be acquired. If these are properly in- 
vestigated and not blindly copied they may lead to mapy original 
ways of doing that will add a new interest to the work. 2. Other 
devices, (a). The larger maps for the wall, the outline maps for 
filling up with routes of exploration, important localities, and the 
relief map are always of advantage. Maps showing territorial ex- 
pansion, the important campaigns in the leading wars, and com- 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. H^ 

mercial development should be prepared by the pupil. Back of 
all this map work the constant effort should be made to have the 
learner see a real country as the scene of the events studied, and 
not stop with the representations on paper, (b). The large and 
small charts showing parallel movements in different localities 
at the same time, prepared by teacher and pupils are another 
constant aid. Growth in railroads and other industrial condi- 
tions may be readily shown by charting and coloring. Related 
topics may be put upon a large chart for reviews and drills and 
preserved from year to year. A chart of the tariff having been 
in use four years is still valuable every time a new class goes ovei 
the history work. The section number of the text used is beside 
each topic on the chart so it can be readily used in assigning 
readings on this topic, both in the advance work and in review. 
(c). A collection of pictures has its value in this subject as well 
as in geography and other branches. The firms supplying penny 
pictures are now beginning to furnish collections for classroom 
use in this branch. Such collections are within the reach of any 
good teacher of the subject, (d). All relics that may be found 
in public collections and that pupils may bring from their homes 
should be utilized. Paper fractional currency, confederate paper 
money, stamps, original copies of public documents are enough 
to suggest things that may be used to talk more forcibly to the 
pupil of other days. (e). In connection with this the suggestion 
should be made to have all material from original sources that 
it is possible for the pupil to handle intelligently used. This 
should supplement his text-book and render it more vivid. There 
is probably too much uncertainty of the power of teachers and 
pupils to attempt this plan of historical study to the exclusion 
of the well written text. The good text-book in this subject as 
in all others furnishes the starting and returning point of the 
pupil in all his side excursions for broader investigation. Life 
is too short to waste the pupil's time having him try to become a 
writer of his own historical text-book from original documents. 
These may make clearer his views and consequently should be 
used, but he needs a guide upon which to found his investiga- 
tions, (f). The pupils should in many cases keep note books in 
which to record answers to questions of their own formulating, 



114 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

and to such as the teacher and the nature of the subject may sug- 
gest. These note books should not be made up of quotations from 
the texts handled, but should be the expression in the pupil's own 
words of the ideas he has obtained from his side readings. They 
may contain outlines of work made out by himself and discussed 
in class. It is questionable whether outlines made by the teacher 
and dictated for copying into note books are of much value. Pic- 
tures from papers and magazines may profitably be put into the 
note books. An occasional clipping from a newspaper should 
find a place there. Let the book be a means of collecting and fas- 
tening historical material in pupils' minds, and not an end in 
itself to be judged alone by the pages filled, (g). Aside from the 
literature that is purely historical there are the large collections ot 
writings of standard poets and prose writers that have value as 
side lights and stimulants to the historical investigations of the 
young student. These should be named and as many as possible 
read and discussed. It is through these and the other side ex- 
cursions that the teacher should seek to arouse the taste for his- 
tory in connection with the text book rather than by having a 
text-book padded with stories. 

74.— HOW TO WORK, DRILLS, REVIEWS. 

I. A general view of the ground to be covered should be 
taken with the class at the opening of the term's work. This 
may be done from table of contents and from an examination of 
the pages of the text. It is well to have pupils recognize how- 
many pages are devoted to the various leading topics. Each of 
these collections of pages may stand to the child as a small his- 
torical treatise on the subject at the head of the list. A rapid 
view of chief places and some of the leading characters will be 
valuable. 2. The lesson plan on the history lesson or lessons 
given on an earlier page suggests in outline that a careful as- 
signment is necessary in order that pupils may form the right 
habits of study. There should be suggestions made that lead to 
attention to all points in a manner commensurate with their im 
portance. Certainly the Charleston earthquake is not of equal 
importance with the civil service reform movement, yet pupil? 
often study them with equal emphasis. 3. Germ ideas should 
be recognized and carefully taught so that they may be easily 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. X15 

recalled when their fruits in later years are reached. "To the 
victors belong the spoils," can not be made real clear to the 
pupil as a dangerous practice in governmental policy, possibly, 
but the fact of its introduction into our government should be 
recognized and the evils noted from time to time in the later 
study until it resulted in the civil service legislation of the closing 
years of the century. The Kentucky and Virginia resolutions, 
the Hartford convention and nullification should stand related to 
secession. The origin and continuation of political parties due 
to difference of interpretation put upon the constitution should 
be seen. The fact of the change in view sometimes wrought by 
assuming power and responsibility is well illustrated in Jefferson 
and the Louisiana purchase and the Embargo Act. 4. When 
the constitutional convention is under consideration is a good 
season for a study of leading features of the text of the constitu- 
tion. The right to free speech and a free press there gauranteed 
should be seen and the Sedition Law of the administration of thi'. 
elder Adams compared in its aim with the license assumed by the 
anarchistic element of our population to-day. After the sad ex- 
perience through which this nation has so recently passed, it is 
well to stop and consider whether we are not giving undue 
weight to the idea and allowing utterances to pass unchallenged 
that the constitution in no sense guarantees one the license to 
make. A study of the election of eighteen-twenty-four gives a 
good opportunity to refer to the method of the election of presi- 
dent. Parts of Washington's farewell address, Lincoln's inaugu- 
rals, Gettysburg speech in full, some of the patriotic utterances 
of Webster should be used. These are but suggestions of lines 
that should be followed. 5. Much of the discussion made in 
class should be through topical recitation. Frequently there is 
too much questioning done on the part of the teacher. The pupil 
should do the talking. Have pupils prepare lists of written ques- 
tions to be used in recitation period. Brief debates may be ar- 
ranged. Written exercises may be given to be prepared and 
brought to class and many written exercises of a few minute.^ 
length should be done by the class in recitation periods. Some 
of the formal language materials should be gotten froni these 
written exercises in history. 6. Much attention should be given 



116 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

to the biographies of prominent persons. Comparisons may be 
drawn and the pupil asked to state what he admires in the char 
acters and why he makes such a choice. This results in habits 
of right moral judgment and leads eventually to imitation of the 
good in the lives of the persons studied. Comparison of Jackson 
and Lincoln shows two men of very strong will power. They 
were very different men, however. The one was a hurricane 
overturning every thing before him through his indomitable will, 
the other was a mighty, placid Mississippi finding his way among 
rocks and around obstructions, but eventually reaching the goal 
of success with less destruction and ever so much more power 
than his predecessor. 7. The teaching of the campaigns in the 
revolutionary war and in the civil war is probably of value, for 
they show plan and design. The operations around Boston, the 
struggle for the Hudson river region, the retreat across New Jes- 
sey, winter at Valley Forge and flight of British across New 
Jersey, and the war in the south show in brief view by campaigns 
the movement of this great struggle. In the civil war, beginning 
in 1862, there are two or three great movements that can readily 
be traced by years. War in the west between the mountains and 
the Mississippi; the war in the east in Virginia, Maryland ,and 
Pennslyvania ; and the blockading of the southern ports. 
8. There is a great deal of confusion as to the im- 
portance of the learning of dates in history. Every 
good teacher of history should set his face decidedly in favor of 
the careful mastery of a number of these as guide posts through 
the wilderness of facts that would otherwise confront the learner 
at every stage of his progress. By consulting the very latest and 
best common school texts it is found that from twenty-five to fifty 
dates are suggested to be well learned. Of course with every date 
learned there shoul be associated the persons, the event, and the 
place. Learning dates without these features is almost a waste 
of time. For fixing events well in mind pupils should make topi- 
cal outlines of facts recently learned. These should grow larger 
and include more facts as the work proceeds until at the end 
a good outline could be written by the pupil to cover the entire 
period" of our history. Another means is the written summary 
not in outline but in form of brief statements making a brief 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. U7 

essay of connected points on the period of history studied. 
Grouping important names, important events, 'and prominent 
places in series is another means of fixing the desired materials 
in the mind. The more varied the associations and the more fre- 
quently they are touched the richer the content of historical mat- 
ter the mind has for its effort. 9. Reviews. A common way 
and one of value is to take up the points as they come in order 
of time. This is a chronological review and has the time element 
for its unifying principle. To make a list of important names of 
persons from the earliest times to the present is another means 
of review. This has biography for its connecting chain. Another 
helpful way is to make geographical units. New England, Bos- 
ton, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Virginia, and the like 
will suggest how this may be done. Still another and one of the 
very best is to take an important topic — -the tariff, or slavery, or 
growth of territory, and trace it down to the present with the 
leading events which it infleuced or which modified it. Here 
some of the chart work mentioned before is helpful. Yet another 
means of review is by use of the index. Topics may be taken by 
their relations in nature, or time, or the index, right from the be- 
ginning may be used by advanced classes, taking a general re- 
view, locating each event in proper time and place as it is found 
without regard to unity of thought. If proper associations have 
been made in the teaching these reviews will be a pleasure rather 
than a task. 

V. 

Arithmetic. 

75.— MECHANICAL AND MEMORY WORK. 
I. Power and skill in the fundamental operations are ac- 
quired mechanically and through memory development. This 
work should be done early in the course. It should be made per- 
manent through constant drills and repetitions until the pupil has 
perfect mastery over these simple tables and operations. The 
interest may be aroused and attention sustained through the 
child's inclination to do things and his desire to test his strength 
continually. The devices used should be varied frequently, but 
the practice given should be constant. Books and papers and the 



118 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

teacher's ingenuity should suggest variety enough for the work 
to insure continued interest. All pupils can do this drill work. It 
is in no sense the solution of problems. Proper drills at this 
stage of the work will save much time in following school days 
and be a blessing and comfort to the person throughout life. 
Drill, and continue to drill, but give the operation life by change 
of devices and the life and energy thrown into the work. 2. In 
line with the mastery of the tables and drills in the fundamental 
operations come the ideas of factors and the ready recognition 
of factors of smaller numbers. The squares and cubes of the 
digital numbers may be learned. Naming odd numbers, concrete 
numbers, abstract numbers, is now worth while. In teaching all 
these fundamental and secondary operations, as in fact all first 
presentation of new operations, the numbers used should be 
small and within easy grasp of the class. 

76.— TERMS OF FUNDAMENTAL OPERATIONS. 

The terms used in fundamental operations should be under- 
stood and thoroughly learned. All the operations of arithmetic 
are founded on the handling of addends and sums, products and 
factors. These should be well understood and their nature and 
definitions clearly in minds of pupils. Addition has addends 
given to find a sum. In subtraction a sum (minuend) and one 
(subtrahend) of two addends are given that the other addend 
may be found. Multiplication furnishes one of a number of 
addends (multiplicand) of the same size, the number of which is 
named in the multiplier or other factor given. These make the 
factors from which the product (sum) is to be obtained. The pro- 
cess of division is based upon a given product (dividend) and one 
factor (divisor) from which the other factor may be found. It 
is a short method of making many subtractions of the same num- 
ber, it is true, but to see it as the reverse of multiplication is prob- 
ably all that is necessary for the ordinary class. These relations 
of the terms in one process to those in another with the names 
changed because of the new operation, should be clearly seen 
by the learner. Illustration: — Sum, in addition, becomes min- 
uend in subtraction, product in multiplication and dividend in 
division. The pupil should trace these relations in parallels in 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 119 

that way using all terms. At the same time these terms are 
taught and used the principles belonging under each operation 
should be illustrated, when possible, and all thoroughly learned. 
The principles learned at this stage should form the foundation 
to prevent careless and incorrect statements and work in later 
processes. In all advance work pupils should be able to recog- 
nize what operations and terms are applicable and see that no 
principles learned in the past are violated. "Multiplying both 
dividend and divisor by the same number does not change tiie 
quotient." This should help and should be used in fractions as 
the basis for the statement that, "multiplying both numerator and 
denominator by the same number does not alter the value of the 
fraction." In division of decimals the same thing is used when 
dividend and divisor are multiplied by such a number as to make 
the divisor a whole number before dividing in order that there 
may be no diufficlty in placing the point in the quotient. The 
same principle appears again in ratio. Very frequently teachers 
and pupils make statements as follows: "Forty sheep multipliea 
by three dollars equals the cost of the sheep, or one hundred and 
twenty dollars." "Three feet multiplied by two feet equals six 
square feet." Keeping in mind the principles would show the 
absurdity of such statements and prevent their use. Why have 
these principles at all if they are constantly violated in this wav 
in the later work? 

77.— POWER TO IMAGE MATHEMATICAL MAGNI- 
TUDES. 
The author of a late series of arithmetics has stated in a recent 
address some pertinent thoughts on this phase of arithmetical 
work. "The really difficult thing for the pupil in mathematics is 
not figure manipulation; it is not the seeing of the relations of 
magnitudes. It is the imaging of the magnitudes to be com- 
pared. What shall we do about it? Confront the pupil oftener 
with objects of sense? Not necessarily. Rather lead him oftener 
to image. This work must be begun in the lowest grades. The 
only way for the pupils to learn to image is by imaging. The 
time to begin is immediately after he has perceived (seen or felt) 
the sense object." This work should begin in actual measure- 
ments and comparisons of sense objects. The step next to this in 



120 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

developing this power is calling up in niemor}- the images of ob- 
jects measured and comparing these images. The final power, 
and the one for which the others are preparatory steps, is the abil- 
ity to create imaginary measured magnitudes and compare the 
images. In the first of these three steps many objects will be 
used. Fewer objects will be needed as the pupil grows older. 
But some must be used, even at the last of his public school 
course. Pupils fail constantly because of inability to image ob- 
jects, magnitudes, and relations that their problems present. Il- 
lustration: — An oblong three inches by four inches has 

square inches. The perimeter of this oblong is . Unless 

the pupil images an oblong of about these proportions and sees 
fully the shape and size his work is a mere rote process and has 
little value. Such work is not to be of the mechanical nature 
for fixing tables of operation in memory, but for developing ma- 
thematical power. A large percentage of the failures in arith- 
metic is due to lack of this imaging power. 

78.— A FEW SUGGESTIONS. 

I. Reading a problem understandingly is practically solv- 
ing it. When the pupil has read his problem and can put the 
statement of the fundamental elements with the proper signs in 
the order that will bring right results when the operations arc 
performed, he has solved it. The remaining work is of the me- 
chanical kind that he learned before he was able to do much 
problem work. In this matter of solving problems it is not al- 
ways necessary or desirable that the mechanical work shall fol- 
low immediately after the solution. Sometimes the statem.ents 
may be preserved and given some days afterward as a drill \p. 
mechanical operations from "indicated work." Numerical an- 
swers are not be the only result that the pupil should thin'c he 
is to reach. The proper statement of the elements and relations 
in the problems are to concern him most of all. It is in this pro- 
cess that his reasoning powers are trained. 2. The former state- 
ments lead naturally to the question of forms of analysis. In 
times past, or possibly not yet fully past, there has been a waste 
of time and energy over long and tedious forms of analysis. 
There should be analysis and good statements of each step so 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 121 

that the pupil may acquire the habit of thinking and stating defi- 
nitely the product of his thought. This is training in languages 
as a means of better work in arithmetic, since it is the formulation 
of arithmetical thought in symbolical and verbal statement. As an 
illustration of a brief but good analysis a problem and its analysis 
are taken from The New Practical Arithmetic, by A. W. Rich. 
This is found on page 163. "A man paid $750 for a house, whic.i 
was 24 per cent, of what he paid for 160 acres of land. What was 
the cost of the land per acre?" 

Solution: — 

24 per cent, equals the per cent, of the cost of the land in the 
cost of the house. $750 divided by .24 equals the value of the 
land, or $3,125. $3,125 divided by 160 equals the cost of the land 
per acre, or $19.53^. 

This goes directly to the point and is based upon operations 
with which the pupil should be entirely familiar, thus precluding 
the necessity of longer and more complicated statements. It 
will be noticed that the portion after the word "or" in each state- 
ment is the numerical result obtained from the performance of 
the mechanical operations indicated in the early part of the state- 
ment, which is the solution proper. 3. When the pupils are 
found to be in difficulty it is not explanation on the part of the 
teacher that is needed, but simpler oral work of the same nature 
and recognition of past work and principles that may have slipped 
from the mind. A little drill of this kind will generally lead the 
pupil up to his difficulty in such a manner that he will overcome 
it without farther effort. It may be well here to suggest that oral 
work should lead up systematically to the more difficult written 
work. The written work has no new elements, but is simply the 
manner of handling numbers that stand in the same relations as 
those of the oral problems, but are too large to be manipulated 
without the aid of the pencil. There is oral and written arith- 
metic, but not mental and written as is so frequently mentioned 
4. There should be reviews of special topics from time to time, 
but they should be nezv views from other matter and should make 
the earlier work clearer because of the later ideas that have been 
seen. However, the most profitable reviews are the daily recall- 
ing of principles and back operations upon which the advance is 



122 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 

naturally based. Having meanings of indicated operations and 
problems stated is a good way to keep the past work fresh in the 
mind. An excellent review and at the same time a device that 
clears up ideas, is to have problems written by the pupils. The 
number story of the primary school should never be outgrown, 
but should be used both in the advance work and in the reviews. 

5. The blackboard is a convenient and useful device in the 
school room, and is very helpful when properly used in the arith- 
metic recitation. It is to be used somctinics for whole class exer 
cises, but more frequently there should be but one pupil at the 
board. Let one put work on board while others work on slates 
or paper, and the work on the board can be used for comparison, 
and if nothing needs discussion another pupil may go to the 
board and a new problem be solved. In this way many problems 
may be solved and all or nearly all pupils can have board work. 
Until the teacher can manage the class very well the board work 
should not be attempted by having the whole class at the board 
at once. Even well managed classes in the grades waste much 
time when large numbers are sent to the board too often. The 
teacher should use the board a great deal in furnishing supple- 
mentary work that will lead the pupil over his difficulty. The 
board should be used to make clear new ideas or words by draw- 
ings and by writing the word. New words should first be pre- 
sented through voice of teacher, but they should also be written 
on the board, pronounced by pupils, and finally written by class. 

6. There are three parts in the pupils' arithmetical work, the 
mechanical processes, solution of problems, and explaining why 
processes are conducted as they are. In the public school there 
is not much time for the third one of these divisions. It matters 
little why there is "borrowing ten' in subtraction, why the pro- 
duct is the same in kind as the multiplicand, and similar explana- 
tions that are frequently demanded. There is no explanation of 
the pupil's problem necessary when he has once written his solu- 
tion. The solution itself shows what is meant in each step. The 
old way of sending entire classes to board and giving each one 
a problem from the list assigned for study, having each take his 
seat when he has finished to wait for all to finish, and then have 
each "explain" his problem belongs to the days of the hand sickle 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. J 23 

and the corduroy postal route. The lesson of this kind should 
be brought to class prepared on paper. One pupil may name the 
first step, another may read from his paper how he took it, an- 
other gives the next step, and so on through the list. Problems 
from outside the lesson should then be solved, having one at the 
board and others at work on paper. Time is wasted on non- 
essentials very frequently, and pupils sent out without ability to 
solve problems and do the mechanical work accurately and with 
proper rapidity. 7. There are superstitions and mistaken ideas 
about difficulties that never should be fastened in the minds of pu- 
pils. A few of these are fractions, longitude and time, interest, me- 
tric system. Fractions may be presented in such a way and so re- 
lated to the fundamental operations that all terrors are avoided. 
The trouble with longitude and time is not one of arithmetic, but 
rather that of weakness of geographical ideas. Consequently this 
is a topic that should not be presented until mathematical geog- 
raphy has been well taught. This topic is a combination of geo- 
graphy and the operations of denominate numbers. There is 
very little that is new in this division of arithmetic and all dififi- 
culties disappear if the geographical ideas are clear and the pupil 
can manage denominate numbers. In the calculations of in- 
terest the greatest difficulty is manipulations of decimals and de- 
nominate numbers again. The point claimed here, is that there 
is little that is new in calculating interest, but .that previous work 
properly understood will remove most of the difficulties in inter- 
est. Another illustration of a prejudice that is too prevalent is 
the regard in which the metric system is held. It is not a diffi- 
cult system to teach, and when properly presented with ou- 
money system, our system of decimal notation, and with decimals 
proper, becomes easy and interesting. A shade stick, some 
rulers made from the top of a crayon box and other simple de- 
vices, may furnish all the material for teaching this system effect- 
ively. The names are not difficult to use if the thing named is 
known. Meter, decimeter, and others are fully within the grasp 
of the pupils as soon as the length named is seen fully by the 
pupil. Here is a good illustration of the necessity of presenting 
the thing before the word is given. The metric system is worthy 
of attention, it can be taught and should be taught. Instead of 



124 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

taking extra time it may help in applying decimals and thus make 
the teaching of this part of fractions more effective. These illus- 
trations are given merely as suggestions of the little that is new 
in any particular division of arithmetic, and how closely all new 
topics are related to what has been presented earlier. Instead of 
cutting out so many topics in the arithmetic, as it is sometimes 
proposed to do, time may be saved by properly relating the new 
to the old and clearer views and more power attained by re- 
taining all topics since in the main they furnish so much applica- 
tion of old knowledge. 

VI. 
Physiology. 

79.— THE BODY. 

This subejct is usually presented to the pupil under three 
distinct topics — anatomy, physiology proper, and hygiene. The 
first of these deals with the mechanism or structure, the second, 
with the functions or work of the different organs, and the last 
with the preservation of the healthful conditions of the organs and 
in a simple way with the restoration of moderately diseased parts. 
The problem confronting the teacher is to find the point of con- 
tact best adapted to the class in taking up the subject. There is 
a range of topics found in the body itself all the way from the al- 
most senseless cell to the most highly developed physical crea- 
tion on the earth — the human nervous system. Between these 
extremes lie all the accessory organisms that make possible the 
existence and continued life of the nervous system, which is, after 
all, the real man so near as any thing physical can approach real 
soul life. The scientifically logical treatment would probably be- 
gin with the cell and trace the development of the organs by the 
grouping and modifications of these cells. This may not be the 
pedagogically logical thing to do. however. In the lower grades a 
study of the simpler notions of frame-work, muscles. digestive sys- 
tem has probably been made through their purposes as shown by 
the work they do. When the class approaches the higher gram- 
mar grades a new point of approach may profitably be taken. 
The cell — and it is as easily made clear to a pupil through use o! 
the common egg as many a distant fact in geography or history 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 125 

— may be briefly discussed and the tissues of the body shown to 
arise from arrangement and modifications of these. Brick and 
mortar may remain the same and yet make walls, pillars, parti- 
tions according to arrangement for the purpose of the thing con- 
structed. These may be modified, as harder brick, particular 
changes in mortar for different purposes. So it is with the cells, 
and so the pupil may readily be led to see for himself that cells 
may do different work according to the purpose of the organ 
which they combine to form. This gives a new and fresh view 
to the pupil and puts the work on a higher plane than it had 
held before. 

80.— THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 
After the preliminary view of the cells the real starting poiiu 
should be through a general view of the nervous system. This 
is the one system with which the conscious life oi the child is 
most closely in touch. It is the system that brings the real child - 
mind and soul into touch with the outer world of the senses. 
It is the system for whose existence and continued life all the 
other systems of the body have been created. It is that part of 
material creation that is nearest the spiritual world, and it is in 
that world that the child's real existence is found. Hunger, pain, 
pleasure, fear, punishment, satisfactions of the senses are all 
manifested to him through this wonderful mechanism. It is the 
wonder worker of the human body. He feels and knows physi- 
cal effects on his body by its operations. In the treatment of 
this part of the study the teacher may make it as interesting and 
inspiring as the childhood tales of fairy land. Since the pupil is 
so rich in experiences through this system it is the proper place, 
in higher grades at least, to approach the study of the entire sub- 
ject. Not the detailed study should be undertaken here, but a 
general view of its nature and functions should be seen. How er- 
roneous to teach a pupil of the lower systems first and leave him 
to think of their operations as due to some mysterious, unex- 
plainable property within themselves when it is the nervous sys- 
tem that makes them act as they do. There are probably many 
teachers who have wondered why muscles could contract and 
relax in that mysterious way that is left so uncertain in the mind 
when all mention of the nervous system in this connection is 



126 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

avoided. The same may be said of all the other lower systems 
of the body. The writer has for several years felt that a change 
in point of view in teaching should be made here. In talks with 
teachers of the subject he has advocated a change in the order of 
presentation of the ordinary text in accordance with this view. 
Within the past few months a high school text-book* on physi- 
ology has appeared which every teacher is advised to secure and 
study, to get a clearer view of this mode of treatment than can 
be presented here. 

^(Physiology for High Schools, — Macy-Norris. American 
Book Co.) 

8i.— PURPOSE THE UNDERLYING IDEA OF ORGANS 
OF THE BODY. 

In treatment of the structure of the skeleton, the muscles, the 
digestive system, the respiratory organs, the circulatory system; 
the nature, location and composition of each should be seen 
through the purpose it is to fulfill. (Read Philosophy of Teach- 
ing, Tompkins, pp. 162-169.) All these parts are what they are 
because of the work they do for the body. The fuller discussion 
of the nervous system should proceed in the same way. This 
leads into the higher realm of training, forming habits and even 
to the fundamentals of psychology, which is not, after all, so ab- 
stract a matter as some wordy writers would have us believe. 
When the abundant experiences of the pupil are taken into con- 
sideration it may not be extreme to say that a sensible, brief 
treatment of some of the most common phases of mental and 
spiritual life would make a profitable close to the pupil's high 
school course in following his study of physiology. At least the 
end and purpose of the body as a whole should be determined in 
the ultimate operation in giving mind and soul all the develop- 
ment possible. This would then lead to a sensible discussion of 
the uses and abuses of stimulants and narcotics with a firm basis 
for a stand against the misuse and strong advocacy of the grave 
dangers in most cases of any course but one of total abstinence. 

82.— ILLUSTRATIONS AND DEVICES. 

Good charts are always valuable in the teaching of this sub- 
ject. Blackboard sketches by the teacher and drawings made on 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 127 

paper by the pupils are essential aids. The stencil and the en- 
larging apparatus mentioned on an earlier page may be used to 
advantage by the teacher. The pupil should be led to think of 
these various parts as existing in his own body and not remem- 
ber them from chart, drawing or book alone. Bone and muscle 
should be brought to class from home and used as illustrative 
material. This of course is lifeless and shows structure only. A 
heart, an eye, the lungs from the meat market if properly han- 
dled make good illustrative matter. Care should be taken to 
present them in the most tactful and least offensive way, so that 
sensitive children may not be nauseated or shocked. There is 
not a great deal of opportunity for it and probably it would not 
be wise to have dissections of entire animals in the class room 
of the public school. The preparation of such an animal as the 
frog beforehand so that relations of organs may be demonstra- 
ted to class in the recitation may be well. The illustration of the 
nervous system can be made in this way. A skeleton of a small 
animal of this kind may be prepared to do good service ,and it is 
no greater step for the .constructive imagination to see the hu- 
man skeleton from such illustrations than it is to see the continent 
and globe from home geography, modeling board, and maps. 
Finally the entire group of systems making the body should be 
seen as a unit, each working with the other and for it when neces- 
sary, and all contributing to the nervous system which in return 
protects, wrans, and guides them as the master mechanism of 
the body. 

VII. 

Language and Grammar. 

83.— THE MECHANICS OF WRITTEN WORK. 
"It is quite possible that too much stress is placed upon the 
original written language work of the ordinary school. When 
one stops to consider the burden that is placed upon the mind 
of the ordinary child as to what he must keep in mind in order 
to prepare a page of passably well written English, he is ready 
to assert that there is waste of efifort and probably injury to come 
from the practice of so much written work as specific language 
training. A brief examination of the subject of technical knowl- 



128 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

edge necessary to write acceptably reveals quite an array of things 
to be remembered, i. At the very outset the learner is met with 
the difficulty of capitalization. This is not so very far beyond his 
comprehension as to the beginning of sentences, but when he 
must remember to recognize every proper noun, names of the 
month, appellations of the deity, adjectives derived from proper 
nouns, and things personified, with other words that religious 
and political prejudices and local pride may fasten upon him, 
the burden is by no means light. 2. Next may be mentioned that 
bugbear of all teachers of English, punctuation. In spite of the 
effort to have it understood, in a moderate degree at least, every 
pupil soon becomes a law unto himself in the matter once he 
has escaped the eye of his teacher. With the marks for the close 
of the sentence he can do reasom.bly well, but when it come to 
marshalling the comma, semicolon, colon, quotation marks, hy- 
phen, dash, apostrophe and their kindred into line he does not do 
it. but throws himself upon the intelligence and good humor of 
his correspondent for charitable interpretation. In the use of 
abbreviations the pupil finds himself not only bothered as to the 
right form to employ, but also he is put to no small trouble to 
know just when to make use of the abbreviation and when to 
write the word out in full. 3. Every teacher knows that pupils 
always need all the drill that it is possible to give them in spell- 
ing, and that when the ordinary pupil's mind is entirely given to 
the spelling exercise there aie still many words that baffle him. 
In his written language work he not only struggles with the 
spelling of the ordinary forms of words, but he must be able to 
write the possessive forms both singular and plural, comparative 
forms of adjectives and adverbs, tense and personal forms of the 
verb and the other variations of the language. 4. The proper 
placing of the heading or title, observing to leave a margin, in- 
denting paragraphs, right division of words at the end of the 
line, attention to neatness of writing, all combine to make the dif- 
ficulties more perplexing. Yet these things can not be ignored. 
5. Another of his serious difficulties is to get the right sentence 
sense so that he may recognize readily where the sentence closes 
and the new one begins. He must arrange the words in the sen- 
tence in the order that will sfive the best effect. After this he 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, 129 

must put the sentences in the paragraph in such arrangement 
that the result will express properly the ideas it is desired to 
convey. Over and above all, he must find and carry the thought 
as he writes. 6. A full realization of these difficulties will lead 
teachers to change the manner of giving language training in 
such a way as to reach better results with less overtaxing of the 
pupil's powers. Much of the written work now done is an in- 
jury to the child and has no value for the teacher excepting to 
show where the pupil is weakest that the proper steps may be 
taken to reach most directly the defects revealed. Rewriting is 
not necessarily the remedy that should be applied. As in spell- 
ing make it reasonably certain that he can do the work correctlv, 
and then set about having it done that way until the right habits 
are formed. Every efifort should be made to prevent the pupil 
from writing incorrect papers. 

84.— HOW TO WORK, DEVICES. 

I. The first thing to get out of the way is the difficulty of 
having nothing to say. By means of oral discussion that is in- 
telligible to the class and inspiring so far as possible, the pupii 
should be made to feel himself so full of the thought that he is 
bubbling over as it were with desire to express himself. The 
effort should not be, as it too freuently is, to prevent the pupils 
from talking, but rather in all subjects to get them to talk freely, 
but their thought should be guided by judicious questions and 
directions to the most effective ends. It is well to remember right 
here that the thoughts and language used are those of the child, 
and he should not be bothered too much and too persistently with 
adult phraseology and the conventional forms of the literary 
world. A conclusion, then, that the thoughtful teacher will reach 
is, that there should be a great deal of oral work to precede the 
written, and that the thought should be so familiar to the pupil 
that he feels himself full of the subject and finds thought knock- 
ing for expression instead of having to coax it into existence 
through halting, half-formed sentences. 2. Another means in 
forming the right habits of expression is to be found in the cor- 
rect copying of standard literature that is within the reasonable 
comprehension of the class. The purpose here is to give oppor- 



130 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

tunity to form the habit of doing the mechanical part of written 
work properly without sacrificing thought to the extra burden 
of its invention while the pupil is struggling with the form of ex- 
pression. Systematic study and committing of excellent literary 
selections should be followed. 3. Good stories well told will 
stimulate the thought of the pupils, not for reproduction alone, 
but so that they will be ready and anxious to tell and later write 
out similar stories that they have read or that are formed from 
experiences coming under their own observations. Pictures in 
the language books, in readers, in geographies and other books 
and from the art study work and educational journals should be 
used all the way through the grades to arouse and awaken pupils 
to wish to talk and write. A language book issued recently for 
use in first years of high school work has twenty-six pictures in 
it, either to illustrate the thought of selections given, or to be 
used as stimulants to the pupil in his attempts to write. Such 
use of pictures is to be commended. 4. For the written work 
which is to be the expression of thought in the pupil's own lan- 
guage the reading, nature study, geography, and history, should 
furnish abundant materials. Before closing this topic a sugges- 
tion as to corrections of the language of the pupil, oral and writ- 
ten, is in place. It is but reasonable to see that severe criticism 
will defeat its own purpose in making the pupil self-conscious, 
and thus impeding his thought and consequently injuring his 
language. Suggestions in class in the way of criticism should 
come after the pupil has finished speaking. Sometimes the pupil 
might then repeat the correct form for the sake of the language 
training pure and simple, but while he is speaking there should 
be no sign of recognition of incorrect language indicated by 
teacher or pupils. If possible the pupil should be led to make the 
correction without the mistake he made being repeated before 
the class. Pupils should be kept on the alert for mistakes, but 
they should never repeat them but give correct form when offer- 
ing their criticism. Written work should be properly criticised. 
At the risk of being misunderstood the writer ventures to sug- 
gest that there is probably as much harm done by over criticism 
as by under criticism by teachers in developing the language of 
public school pupils. A quotation on this line is given from page 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, 131 

224 of 'Thinking and Learning to Think," a book written by N. 
C. Schaffer, Superintendent of Public Instruction in Pennsylva- 
nia. "The current of thought is frequently interrupted bydrav.'ing 
attention at the wrong time to mistakes in grammar and errors 
of pronunciation. The proper time for such criticism is after the 
movement of thought has reached its goal; and even then the 
critic should not call attention to too many defects at one time; 
otherwise the effect will be to discourage and bewilder the pupil. 
The stream of thought is the most essential thing in writing, 
speaking, and oral reading." Language cannot be taught effect- 
ively as a thing separate and apart from the thought which should 
be under and through the form of expression. Improve the 
thinking and then improve the expression by perfecting the es- 
sential things first. 

85.— TECHNICAL GRAMMAR. 

I. Inductively the language work from third and fourth 
grades up should be leading into a knowledge of the simple ele- 
ments of the sentence. These are named by their proper terms 
from the first, thus avoiding the necessity of a change in name 
when grammar proper is taken up. In the higher grades it 
should be clearly shown the pupils that it is not the words used 
that are real subjects and predicates, but rather the ideas of which 
these words are the signs. From his own written work the pupil 
should see that he uses words to express ideas that exist in his 
mind, and that the thought he desires to express determines the 
words he chooses and how he shall relate these in his sentence. 
This leads at once to what many teachers fail to have their pupils 
see, viz.: that all parts of speech are put into their proper classes 
through their use in sentences, and that the use of a word in a 
different sense may take it out of its class for a time. The 
teacher who kept an academic dictionary at hand and determined 
disputed points in parsing in his grammar class by the classifica- 
tion there given, certainly failed to have his pupils see this dis- 
tinction in determining how to dispose of individual words as 
found in particular sentences. Very careful thought analysis of 
the sentence will help the learner over this difficulty. Some dia- 
graming is helpful as a device to vary the work, but when it 



132 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

becomes the hobby and end in sentence analysis there can scarce- 
ly be a more successful thought killer than it is. 2. The exam- 
ination of any good text will show the thoughtful person that 
the author has tried to present difficulties singly. Many teachers 
persist in teaching too much at once. Things that should not 
come for weeks yet are taught because they are related. Let the 
relation look backward instead of forward for the pupil. Teach 
him what is now suggested and when the more complete topic 12 
reached call up what you had previously taught. Do not try to 
teach the writing of plurals and the possessives in one lump lot. 
Separate difficulties. Single word tenses of the verb should be 
taught first and then the phrase forms built up singly, carefully 
showing the power and use of the auxiliaries used. "Shall" and 
"will" should once and for all suggest future time whenever 
either is seen. "Have" and "had" speak of perfect tenses, and 
"may," "can," "might," "could," say to the eye potential mode. 
These illustrate some of the difficult places over which poor 
teachers pass to rapidly and lightly. Another illustration of de- 
manding non-essentials is to have the pupils analyze the entire 
sentence when the exercise is in the early application of his idea 
of subject and predicate or selecting adjectives, or nouns, or 
verbs. In such exercises when all pupils have books he should 
not waste time reading sentences even but go at once to the point 
for which he is looking. 3. Language is the medium for the 
communication of thought. When thought is conveyed to a 
mind the condition of that mind is permanently changed. The 
language is varied and words signifying modifying ideas are em- 
ployed simply to produce a modified condition of the mind to be 
reached. The fundamental condition in language and grammar 
teaching is the recognition that the modification is in the mind 
addressed and is in no sense a modification of the word (except 
ing in the occasional inflected forms) or of the object symbolized 
by the word. It is the concept or product already in the learning 
mind that is modified by the new ideas presented to this mind 
through the new symbols of words, phrases, clauses, sentences, 
and paragraphs. 

Boat, a boat, the boat, new boat, painted boat, green boat, 
long boat, beautiful boat. There are as many different ideas sug- 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, J 33 

gested to the mind as there are different expressions in the list. 
The word "boat" is not modified. Further, any one, or in dif- 
ferent sentences, al) of these expressions might be appHed to an 
individual boat and the boat itself in every particular remain un- 
changed. In teaching language and grammar the thing to con- 
cern the teacher is to have the pupil realize the power and func- 
tion of the word or expression through the modification that he 
recognizes is made in his own mind by its use. Starting Irom. 
this and keeping it in mind without trying to force the pupil to 
tell in every particular how he knows, will enable the teacher to 
reach out and lead the class to see "sense" and power in grammar 
where before every thing was arbitrary and uninteresting. Lan- 
guage and its purpose existed long before text books did. It 
should be taught from its own nature instead of the too cJose 
reliance upon the statements of the text book. 



134 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

ORGANIZATION, MANAGEMENT AND 
DISCIPLINE. 



I. 
Organization. 

86.— ORGANIZATION IN GENERAL. 

No enterprise requiring the co-operation of different per- 
sons or groups of persons can succeed without system, Estab- 
Hshing this systematic relation is known as the process of organ ■ 
ization. The school is an organism with separate parts each con- 
tributing to the purpose for which the school itself is estab- 
lished. The fundamental elements in the school are teacher and 
pupil. It is to bring these into personal contact for the teaching 
and training of the pupil that it as a formal institution exists. 
All other factors in school organization are merely accessory to 
these two and are for their convenience and economic advantage. 
Wherever a learner and a teacher come together, there a school 
exists in a primary sense. School laws, taxes, funds, school offi- 
cers, school property, parents, and superintendents when not 
teaching are parts of the organism more or less remote from its 
immediate work, but none the less real and necessary in conse- 
quence of their distance. The immediate parts and those always 
in view are, teacher, pupil, and subject matter or course of study. 
To secure the proper co-operation of all parts near and remote 
requires no small degree of skill and tact. It is from this side 
of the teacher's or superintendent's efforts that the term "good 
organizer" or "poor organizer" is applied. To organize — ^to es- 
tablish organs for certain purposes and set them to workin:^ 
harmoniously for the good of the entire body — does not lie en- 
tirely within the province of the teacher, but he has much to do 
in stimulating and bringing closer together those already estab- 
lished and in securing the operation of powers lying dormant. 
Visitation days, mothers' meetings and similar efforts are illus- 
trations of this fact. Before leaving this topic the school itself 
as an organ in the larger organism, known as society, demands 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 135 

brief mention. In modern thought it is the place and occupation 
set aside to aid home and church in the process of leading child- 
hood and youth from the real boy or girl of the present into the 
ideal manhood or womanhood of the future. To meet the de- 
mands thus created and supply good, law-abiding citizens the 
organization of the school has a function distinctly its own 
Within itself it should be such as to train the pupils into habits 
of self control, and respect for rights of others and interest iti 
enforcement of regulations all of which tend to form right ideal? 
of life. 

87.— THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. 

I. Since the purpose of the school is to bring the teacher 
and pupil into touch in the teaching process most effectively and 
economically, organization must prepare the way for this exer- 
cise. That is the best organized school that offers best oppor- 
tunity for this union of efforts of teacher and pupils. Every act 
of the teacher aside from the actual teaching and much of h:s 
effort then has to do with organization and its proper preserva- 
tion. Organization seeks to harmonize the elements contribu- 
ting to the school's creation and continued existence. Manage- 
ment seeks to preserve the organization and keep all parts 
working harmoniously. Discipline concerns itself with the res- 
toration of the organization when one or more parts persistentlr 
get out of order and interfere with the proper working of the 
school. It may be an individual or it may be a class or several 
classes that requre discipline. There is no intention to assert 
here that these operations have distinct fields that can be clearly 
bounded in all directions so that every act in connection with 
the school can be definitely classified as one of organization, 
management, or discipHne purely. It is, however, true that there 
are these distinct phases in the work regardless of the fact that 
they shade into each other on their border lines. Every act ot 
school government falls under one of two distinct heads — preser- 
vation of unity in the work or restoration of the harmony whet- 
the unity has been destroyed. 2. There are several character- 
istics that the good organizer must have. He must be able to 
see all the elements entering into the problem. Certain things 



136 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

are legal while others are not required by law, and still others 
are not prohibited by law and may therefore be introduced into 
the organization if local public sentiment will sanction. Inter- 
ests of the tax-payers are to be considered. No teacher can 
afford to make large demands for extras that will cost the dis- 
trict more than is sanctioned by the best judgment of sensiblv 
conservative men. Parents are interested in the school and their 
interests should be recognized and protected. Schools exist for 
the children and not for teachers, and certainly the parents arc 
truly interested in these children. The majority of parents are 
very willing to trust to the judgment of teachers ,and this trust 
should be handled with the utmost care. The occasional unrea- 
sonable parent should not be allowed to set the standard for all 
parents. School officers have a right to consultation and thc'r 
views should be respected even when the personal opinion of the 
teacher would seem to point in another direction. The wise 
teacher gets his plan into operation best by exercising wisdom in 
self-control and avoiding the appearance of too great desire to 
have the organization all in his own hands. On the other hand 
he must take hold manfully and not perplex others about simple 
little matters of detail that any one with reasonable judgmenL 
should settle at once. In connection with this it may be sug- 
gested that tact is a prime characteristic here as in all other 
places. 3. The organization of the school proper falls a litt'e 
more within the individual powers of the teacher. A good organ ■ 
izer sees the end from the beginning. Much of the organization 
is made before the school opens. He knows the conditions oi 
the school property, about how many pupils will attend, and 
something as to their proper classification before the first day. 
The appliances for work, such as, crayon, erasers, pointers, dic- 
tionary, charts and other apparatus that may belong to the school 
are prepared before hand. Paper, extra pencils, plat of seating 
of the room are at hand to make the starting propitious. 4. To 
organize well the teacher should understand as fully as possible 
about what work is suitable to the various ages and grades oi 
children. Very good help can be found for this in the Manual 
or Hand Book for Iowa Schools, issued by the State Department 
of education at Des Moines within the past year. McMurry's 



lOAVA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 137 

course of study for the eight grades is helpful also. The course 
in use in the best towns and cities of the state will be suggestive 
but all these will have to be adapted to the conditions and needo 
of the individual locality. It will not do to try to copy outright 
what one has seen done while a pupil himself or the work as laid 
out in some other place. On the other hand that teacher is not 
a good organizer who has no interest in the principles that are 
found to underlie all the matter that is found in these various 
sources. In addition to his recognition of the grade of work the 
pupil can do he should also have some idea of the results to be 
attained in mental development from the study of particular sub- 
jects. It is a rare teacher that can look upon all subjects impar 
tially and give each the credit it deserves as an instrument in the 
child's education. Personal tastes and prejudices enter in to 
such an extent that even when there is an apparently rigid course 
of study there are varying degrees of emphasis put upon different 
subjects in turn by different teachers. In a measure this is an 
advantage, as it shows the individual teacher's strength and pre 
serves her personality, but it also shows lack of balanced power 
of organization and little ability to adapt one's self readily to new 
conditions. To know the mental powers and see what subjects 
contribute most effectively to each will help very much m giving 
proper recognition to the different branches and their relations. 
Teachers have more power here than they realize and in their 
teaching they unconsciously enforce that power by the way they 
do their work rather than by public agitations. Any one inter- 
ested can satisfy himself on this point by calling up in memory 
his own teachers and recognizing the things for which each 
stands to him. 5. There are evidences of proper organization 
that are readily recognized. When the organization is good the 
classification will be such as to insure balanced work. It is not 
necessary to have all pupils reciting in all the subjects they study 
in the same class in order to give evidence of good organizing 
power. It is necessary, however, to have the work in each par- 
ticular class in any subject so well balanced that no pupil stands 
far ahead of the average, and that no other may lag behind this 
same average. Balancing the work by breaking over from class 
to class for a time is evidence of a good degree of organizing abil- 



138 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

ity, but the effort should be made for the pupil's proper develop- 
ment to have him push ahead where he is backward and eventu- 
ally have his powers balanced so as to make him as effective as 
possible along all lines of his undertakings. A well organized 
school with study and recitation program in plain view will be a 
good studying school. It is the salvation of the youth of our 
land to have a daily routine of definite duties to engage their at- 
tention with regularly recurring periods of vigorous effort and 
sensible relaxation. When more manual exercises are a part of 
the course of study this condition of good organization may 
more easily be met. What an unfortunate being is that person 
who has never attended school long enough to get into the way 
cf useful occupation to such a degree as to form the habit of 
punctuality, regularity, and systematic effort. Not the greatest 
evil to come to the pupil that leaves school early is the loss of 
tlie facts never learned, but rather it consists m the absence of 
habits that the routine of daily school life would have formed 
in him. The organization of the school has an educational value 
far beyond what is ordinarily supposed by the average person. 
An aimless manhood is the product of an aimless youth and the 
school should cultivate aim and supply regular occupation. A 
well organized school makes use of the influences of systematic 
movements of classes and dismissals. The freer from formalism 
and red tape these can be made and the more completely the 
pupils enter into them from their own wills, the greater their 
educational value. 6. Out of the organism itself the laws deter- 
mining what shall be the attitude of individuals toward the bodv 
of which they are a part, must grow. The fundamentals of school 
s.>:overnment exist within the school itself, and are not the form- 
ulated rules of school boards and teachers. The teacher is a mere 
director, moving the various organs of the school, not for his 
own satisfaction oi whim, but because of a higher power, the 
law written within the purpose of the school when its organiza- 
tion brought it into existence. It is a mistake for the teacher to 
t?.ke the attitude of one dictating a law and enforcing it as one 
outside of its jurisdiction. He is himself subject to that law and 
merely explains and enforces its provisions upon all alike, him- 
self included. This leads to the practical application that if it is 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 139 

necessary that pupils should be quiet and not talk or run in halls 
or on stairways, then teachers should not do so. If pupils should 
not whisper with each other and their visitors during working 
time ,then teachers should not do so when visitors come into the 
room. If for the interests of the school the pupils should be po- 
lite and respectful to teachers, then teachers should be equally 
polite and thoughtful for the interests and feelings of pupils. 
Pupils should get their lessons, so should teachers. These are 
enough illustrations to point out the fact that the preservation 
of the organization of the school so that it may perform the part 
for which it came into existence is the great aim after the organ- 
iration has once been made. This leads to the next chapter — 
nianagement. 

II. 

Management. 

88.— WHERE MANAGEMENT BEGINS. 

In the full sense this operation of the school begins where 
the organization leaves ofit*. It is not possible, however, to or- 
ganize a school completely and successfully without exercising 
ciualities of good management. Likewise it is not within the 
province of management to get along entirely without the fre- 
quent re-adjustment of the organization to adapt it to new con- 
ditions that arise from time to time. Starting with good organi- 
zation perfect management would make the teacher and pupil 
one in the attainment of the purposes of the school. But, even 
in such union of effort and aim, the thought, life and character 
of the teacher must ever be in advance of his pupil. The Great 
Teacher said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Rever- 
ently the human teacher should seek to become the way, the 
truth that shall lead the pupil out into the life to which he should 
aspire. The pupil thinks the thing or operation, the teacher 
thinks the same thing or operation also, but it is as an experience 
of the past and he adds to this, above the thinking of the pupil, 
the way the pupil thinks and the effects this effort must have 
upon the pupil himself. The way must lie open before the youth- 
ful learner. Truth must have embodiment in something that 
appeals to his intuitions and undeveloped mind. Life must man- 



J40 lOAVA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

ifest itself to him in a manner that reaches his personal experi- 
ences. There must be a power that will bring these qualities of 
the teacher into vital touch with the pupil. That one essential 
element is expressed by the conmion but powerful word — con- 
fidence. 

89.— THE TEACHER'S STARTING POINT. 

1. The questions of management are present in every 
school exercise, but are most effective when modestly unobtru- 
sive in their operations. They form probably the most serious 
problems of the teacher. Unless one proposes manfully to grasp 
the proposition set before him in this phase of school work he 
should not enter the teacher's realm. A failure here means more 
than the teacher's misfortune. There are the lives of all the pu- 
pils more or less blighted by the evils resulting from misman- 
agement, and when the total is calculated the outcome is quite 
appalling. In relation to what the teacher has as a starting point 
in winning and holding confidence it is probably not too strong 
to say that ninety per cent, or more of the children of the ordi- 
nary school come prepared, so far as intentions go, to co-operate 
with the teacher and the other pupils, the school authorities and 
the community in making a truly successful school. The burden 
of retaining this co-operation and bringing the refractory fac- 
tion into harmony with the law of the school falls almost entirely 
upon the teacher. He must hold what he has and make friends 
and willing helpers of the hesitating and the occasional openly 
vicious. He is not a martyr to be sacrificed, but an artizan or 
possibly an artist feeling wiu..n himself the power to shape and 
be shaped by the movement to and fro as the school machinery 
ever seeks to adjust itself to the varying needs and requirements 
placed upon it by the growing child. Mind shapes mind, charac- 
ter inspires its like. Sunshine brings flowers and ripens fruit. 
Health suggests health and thus removes aches. Smiles awaken 
smiles. Order annihilates chaos. Dawn dispels darkness. So 
does the teacher stand in relation to the school. Unity from di- 
versity is the demand of the school. 

2. The question that confronts the teacher, then, is how to 
merit, win, and hold his pupil's confidence. There is but one 
word in the answer — masterfulness. He must be the reality as- 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 141 

sumed and have power to do earnestly and enthusiastically what 
he attempts to do. There are various ways in which this power 
to win confidence may be attained. 

90.— HOW CONFIDENCE IS WON AND RETAINED. 

I. Scholarship is a fundamental element in the winning and 
holding of confidence of pupils, parents and school officers. 
(i). Its first effect is to inspire confidence through absence of 
mistakes and fullness of knowledge of subject matter. Pupils 
believe in the teacher who knows his subjecr. Uncertainty as 
to what is right, constant reference to the book and other aids 
in recitation time are bure ways to forfeit the confidence of any 
class of pupils. Mistakes in spelling, poor board work and sim- 
ilar evidences of weakness seriously impair the teacher's hold 
upon his classes. Other things may be so strongly in his favor 
that he may succeed in spite of these and similar defects, but the 
burdens thus placed upon these other qualities are likely to be 
more than they can sustain. The study of spelling books and 
dictionaries and the practicing of drawing and penmanship may 
not seem to be in the direct line of school management, but there 
are individuals who would find the reasonable mastery of such 
things the most eflfective lessons on management that they could 
take. Everybody believes in the person who knows and doesn't 
just "think" it is thus and so. (2). The teacher stands before the 
pupil as the representation to that pupil of what the effort to 
master his studies should lead him to become. Good scholarship 
on the part of the teacher impresses him with a sense of the sac- 
rifice and effort that teacher has made to reach such attainments. 
This pupil, just as the remainder of us, has confidence in any 
one who has had the hardihood to toil and suffer if need be for the 
higher good. The boy or girl admires such qualities and is thus 
more ready to follow the leading of the person having them. 
(3). In the attainment of good academic qualifications the 
teacher should have acquired such a taste for study that fresh 
daily preparation will be a pleasure rather than a task. This 
freshness of knowledge adds to the power in management be- 
cause it proves to the school that they have a growing teacher, 
and the child very much appreciates vigor and life. He believes 



142 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

in the growing teacher. (4). Teachers with broad and accurate 
scholarship assign lessons better than those who see nothing but 
the horizon that bounds the pupil's view. The pupil may see to 
the mountain top, but he has faith in the teacher who can sug- 
gest to him some of the beauties in the valley beyond. (5). One 
of the most common criticisms pupils mentally make of their 
teachers is that they can not teach effectively. Good scholarship 
may reasonably overcome this criticism by giving the teacher 
broad powers of illustration. To illustrate well requires a wealth 
of material at command and the power to recognize when it may 
be used to advantage. Along with this power comes the courage 
to attempt to illustrate, and classes always vote the teacher who 
makes things live and glow with inteiest a successful leader. 
(6). The teachers whose scholar ship is broadest are always the 
most persistent investigators and students. One of the best 
effects to come from these studious habits is the bearing thev 
have upon pupils through their unconscious imitative inclina- 
tions. The thoughtfully studious teacher who utilizes spare mo- 
ments in the presence of the school, cieates an atmosphere for 
work that bears forcibly upon the question of securing a work- 
ing school. A working school is a well managed one. (7). The 
community employs the teacher tirst and above all for the pur- 
pose of having a successful school. This they can not have with- 
out a growing teacher. By study and a modest manifestation of 
his scholarship his intluence reaches beyond the school rt)om, 
and he receives the co-operation of parents through hi^ earnest 
devotion to the interests for which he ii employed. He should 
not become a musty book-wonn, but he can not, on the other 
hand, be a society leader or a manipulator of political machines 
and do his work properly. Parents believe in the teacher who 
has most thorough scholarship if with that he has the good sound 
sense that should accompany such scholarship. i^S). \\ ith good 
intellectual attainments there comes, or should come, a breadth 
of view that enables one to take a broad and generous outlook 
on all questions relating to school policies. Narrow views never 
resulc in management that has educational value in it. A spirit 
of respect for the opinions and desires of others, and at the same 
time a manner born of conviction of the correctness of one's own 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 143 

course is a result of proper scholarship, and this spirit never fails 
to command the respect of others and to secure a fair measure, 
at least, of their co-operation. 

2. Sensible class tactics and superior teaching ability and 
devices win confidence, (i). There is no set of signals that is 
appropriate to all grades and all arrangements of furniture alike. 
The teacher must adopt, adapt, and use such as reach the de- 
sired end with least interference with the other operations of the 
school. Moving classes to the board, to recitation seats, and 
back to places gives opportunity for the teacher to show skill in 
management. Signals should be few, clearly given, and followed 
in concert by all concerned. The teacher's voice is the best in- 
strument for this, but even that need not always be used, for at 
times the eyes of all should be on the teacher, then a motion of 
the hand will do. Precision is valuable when used as a means 
in making these movements, but it should be a means only and 
not carried over into useless drills for the sake of the show it will 
make. Pupils should remain seated until the teacher has decided 
exactly how the movements are to be made and given the proper 
directions. This makes all movements orderly and impresses 
the class that the teacher understands what she is attempting. 
(2). In recitation the class should be seated so that work can be 
directed quietly and effectively. This requires compact arrange- 
ment with no vacant seats to destroy the unity. The thinking 
01 all is to be directed to one point. This is best secured when 
all are close together so that the teacher may pass the directions 
and questions quickly from one to the other. A compact ar- 
rangement affords easy view for teacher to see signs of wander- 
ing attention and disorder and broken unity may thus be restored 
at once. United work and thinking right here help very much 
to secure orderly work at other times. If united attention can 
be secured in no other way a little extra written work may be 
given when signs of inattention begin to appear. (3). The mar- 
iner who allows his vessel to drift at will is no more worthy of 
condemnation than the teacher who sees no definite point to bt 
reached in the recitation hour. At such times the class, some- 
times consciously and sometimes unconsciously, takes charge' of 
the recitation and disorder rules, or it is prevented by external 



144 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

means, such as threats and punishments. Pupils will have no 
confidence in a teacher who does not impress them that he knows 
the end to be reached. (4). Essential points must be given due 
prominence. Wasting time on non-essentials or the less essen- 
tial things destroys unity. Pupils do not learn to look for fun- 
damentals, and thus think very carelessly while studying. Care- 
less thinking means divided attention and this brings bountiful 
opportunities for disorder at all times. (5). Making too little 
use of former knowledge and experience in comparison in fixing 
new' ideas gives a disorderly arrangement of facts in the pupil's 
mind. His mind being in a chaotic condition in this respect fits 
him for disorderly conduct in other particulars. Clear, clean- 
cut comparisons, drills and applications give evidence of power 
on the part of the teacher that will insure confidence and com 
mand respectful attention and the imited effort of the class, 
(6). The teacher who can devise, make, and use simple illus- 
trative matter has another powerful means of winning control 
of the school. All the world believes in the person who does 
something, although it is not always as careful as it should be in 
selecting the things done, upon which it bestows its admiration. 
The time spent out of school in devising and making apparatus 
repays many times more than most teachers suspect in dividends 
of power to hold and manage a troublesome pupil or class. 
(7). Telling the pupil that the recitation has resulted in some good 
to him will not be likely to reach him in a way that will inspire re- 
newed effort when he returns to his seat to study. Having the 
class collect carefully the points made msures a respect for the 
work and a confidence in the teaching that make the pupil fol- 
low the guidance of the teacher unhesitatingly in school duties 
W'here he cannot see results so clearly. 

3. Confidence is secured and held by means of cultivated 
and accurate senses, (i). The eye should see not only quickly 
but accurately. There must be a mind back of it that measures 
exactly the meaning of what is seen and be able to determine 
a line of operation to meet the conditions suggested. The eye 
must be trained to see all pupils in the ordinary school room at a 
single glance. Not as the police ofiicer necessarily sees, but to 
prevent, warn, and guide and finally detect. Also the eye of the 




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IOWA STATE NORMAL SCIIOOLi 145 

teacher should be able to measure more accurately, and discrim- 
inate more closely than that of any pupil. It should show its 
cultivation in what it says so that pupils may read the power 
back of it. (2). An ear free from all defects is also a primary 
essential in good government. It must not only hear accurately 
but must also interpret correctly. Innocent noise incident to 
work has a hum that is dififerent in its character from that of the 
things that tell of mischief afoot. The tone of voice in which a 
pupil answers often furnishes the wide awake teacher with the 
clue by which he may be successfully reached. Sounds and signs 
require sensible interpretation at the hands of the teacher. 

4. Reasonable determination and a well balanced judgment 
secure confidence. Vacillation is the ruin of all government. 
Stubbornness is equally as bad. The golden mean is what the 
teacher must find if he would succeed. Firm, even, balanced con- 
trol, day in and day out, is another very important element in 
good government. A calm, well poised discrimination that sees 
all sides of a question with reasonable alacrity, and is then able to 
determine a line of action that any thinking person would say 
was just and right, is a quality beyond estimation in value for 
the teacher who would manage well. A well balanced power of 
judgment implies the ability to see acts and motives in proper 
perspective. It tells what is innocent and what is criminal, 
what must be looked after at once and what may be well ignored. 
It suggests severity here and a mere word of caution there. It 
adjusts means exactly to the end to be reached. 

5. Force of character and large heart power always win 
confidence, (i). Character is the resultant of all past hfe plus 
the motives of the present day and moment. The teacher who is 
uncertain on moral questions as viewed by society in general is 
sure to be of little service to her pupils as a lasting force in lead- 
ing them to overcome their weaknesses. A character protected 
and shielded from the pollution of the petty meannesses of life 
by its own inherent power, so that it dispels the poisons bred of 
low ideals as the sun drives away the miasma of the marsh and 
puts there instead flowers and golden grain, is beyond calcula- 
tion in value as a power in proper control. (2). Likewise to 
feel that a great kind heart is beating in sympathy with his noble 



146 lOAVA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

impulses, while a keen judgment and a firm hand are detecting 
and dealing with his wrong doing and duplicity, lifts the ordi- 
nary pupil to a higher plane of living than he has been accus- 
tomed to occupy. Respecting the person and rights of ihe most 
unattractive pupil is not born of sentimentalism. Love and jus- 
tice are not incompatible; but hate and justice are. The criminal 
may deserv'^e all the punishment he gets, but the undeveloped 
child does not get all the sympathy he deserves. Heart power 
that enables its possessor to bury himself in devotion to an un- 
promising pupil will reap a hundred-fold harvest in the lives of 
the promising ones while doing something for those of less 
promise. "Faith, Hope, Charity, these three; but the greatest 
of these is Charity." 

III. 

Discipline. 

91.— ITS RELATION TO MANAGEMENT. 

Careful organization and wise and considerate managemeni 
reduce the cases of actual need of discipline to the very lowest 
terms. But even with these well in hand there will be cases de 
manding special treatment because of the injury to the school and 
because the individual does not respond to the effects of ordi- 
nary good management. There are always a few in the school, 
as in the larger community outside, who must have the "law as 
their schoolmaster." Organization and management require that 
there shall be some regulation, and discipline steps in to help en- 
force those regulations when infractions occur. These rules 
should not be of the nature of "do not" so much as guides as to 
what is the right thing to do. They have more of the nature of 
explanations of the self-imposed law of the school through its 
own organization than that of prohibitions with stated fixed pen- 
alties for all offences. The good disciplinarian avoids the com 
promising position of having one definite and fixed punishment 
for all offenders. The same wTong act may be committed b}' 
several different pupils and each case reached most effectively 
and justly by widely separated means of restraint or punishment. 
In fact one may merit no punishment at all when another might 
deserve the infliction of positive pain of some nature. 



IOWA STATJE NORMAL SCHOOL. 147 

92.— WHY PUPILS INJURE THE SCHOOL. 
I, It is reasonable to say that the majority of disturbances 
that interfere with the good work of the school are due to child- 
ish thoughtlessness and lack of training and developed judg 
ment. Since this is true the means used to bring about right 
conditions should be of the nature of management rather than 
that of discipline. Noisy walking in halls, noise in moving in 
the room, in handling books, forgetting to sharpen pencils at 
the proper time and various things of this kind are more evi 
dence of thoughtlessness with sometimes a mixture of careless- 
ness. The teacher should always be charitable here, remember- 
ing his own short comings due to the same causes, but he must 
manage to reduce the thoughtlessness and when carelessness 
verges on the criminal kind it must be met with suggestive dis- 
ciplinary measures. To detect what is due to the unthinking acts 
of childhood and youth and deal accordingly is by no means a 
small problem. It takes time to form habits, and too severe 
measures here will defeat their supposed purpose. 2. The dis 
position to try the teacher is another common source of misbe- 
havior on the part of pupils. This may be a good natured sort of 
test and one that is ready at once to yield to the powers and qual- 
ities of the teacher mentioned under the discussion of manage- 
ment. If this be true the wise teacher removes it without any 
apparent notice. A second phase of the question, however, is 
the persistent determination to annoy and disturb for the sake 
of personal gratification or feelings of lawlessness, or to see how' 
much the teacher will wince under the treatment. The causes for 
tnis may be entirely outside the school. The beginnings of such 
behavior are usually from outside in the sense that they may 
come with the pupil from home surroundings, the influence of 
the street or from prejudices and evil feeling from past terms ot 
school. If such should be the case wise management will sue • 
ceed within a few weeks in breaking down the pupil's disposi 
tion to misbehavior unless his is a case of confirmed evil doing 
from habit and lack of ideals. In such circumstances a farm 
and positive stand in the way of disciplinary matters is necessary 
on the part of the teacher. A hint is given here that in dealing 
with experiences of this kind the teacher should look to his own 



148 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

acts, characteristics and nianagenient very carefully to see if it 
may not be possible that some, at leasl. of the trouble may be 
due to his personality and way of doing things. At the last, it 
must be met, and after the teacher has determined calmly that 
the causes are not to be found in himself it is his duty to set 
about quietly but firmly and with all determination of success 
to bring the pupil over to the side of the law-abiding members 
of the school. If management pure and simple can not reach the 
difficulty, then measures of discipline must be the resort. One 
caution is necessary here, and that is, that the pupil's offense 
should not be put in the light of a personal one against the 
teacher. The teacher is a member of the school, and as such he is 
mjured with the other individuals of the school, but it is a mis- 
take to make the crime to be one of personal injury to the 
teacher. All misdemeanors regardless of the person at whom 
they may be aimed, result eventually in injury of the school and 
should be treated accordingly in correction. All teachers by 
thinking carefully what the purpose of the school is, and what 
conditions will bring about most effectively the realization of 
that purpose, can determine what should not and what should 
be done in school. After recognizing these detrimental occur- 
rences the serious problem is to see which can be reached by 
tact and management and which must have disciplinary treat- 
ment. It is a safe rule to give, however, that an ounce of manage 
iucnt is li'orth a pound discipline. 

93.— QUALITIES AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 

OF THE GOOD DISCIPLINARIAN. 

I. Self control is a quality that stands in the very front rank 
as a characteristic of a good disciplinarian. It shows itself in 
bearing in general, and the calmness and perfect poise main- 
tained when the most trying things happen. That teacher is very 
fortunate who can preserve a perfectly calm manner at all times. 
Next to him is the one who can keep a calm exterior even though 
deeply disturbed within. 2. Sympathy with childhood is essen- 
tial for one who would have strong control. Entering heartily 
into the motives and sentiments of children is essential to him who 
would give his discipline educational value. Imaginative power of 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. ] 49 

the "put-yourself-in-my-place" quality is worthy of constant cul- 
tivation. 3. Self-sacrifice as a principle in the life of the teacher 
always wins the respect and confidence of pupils. It is not 
necessary to over work one's self and break his health to show 
self sacrifice. It is not so much in the amount of extra trouble 
one assumes for the sake of others as it is in the manner with 
which all duties are performed, that this quality shows itself. It 
is devotion to duty without anxiety as to the personal advantage 
that may come from the course of action. 4. "Cowards die 
many times before their deaths." This is true of the teacher who 
is afraid to approach manfully the questions of school discipline. 
Some pupils may be offended, but it is better to be the cause of 
offence to some people when one's cause is right, than to be a 
coward and lose his self respect. It is not meant that in order t j 
give evidence of courage one must loudly and ostentatiously at- 
tack every evil he can find, but it does mean that when an evil 
is preying upon the best interests of the school the teacher wit!) 
all tact and good judgment at command should grapple with it, 
firmly believing that his side will win in the end. There are 
two forms of cowardice neither of which is becoming to a 
teacher. The one quietly submits and allows things improper to 
proceed unmolested. The other whistles and shouts as a boy try- 
ing to keep up his courage in the dark, and like the boy runs 
away at the first suggestion of danger. Real courage acts quietly 
but it resolutely faces the "lion in the way" which may make 
some show of resistance but in the end he slinks away and is seen 
no more. 5. Closely allied to the proper degree of courage is a 
keen sense of justice. Pupils readily acquiesce in events when a 
fellow pupil has met punishment that they feel is just. Gener- 
ally in the school of reasonably proper spirit there is a fair ideal 
of justice toward which all look. The teacher who seems ever 
to hold this ideal above personal satisfaction has the support of 
the majority of the pupils at all times. 6. Sensible and sympa- 
thetic regard for the rights and feelings of others is an essentia^ 
in good discipline. Xothing appeals more strongly to the boy 
or girl than the feeling that the teacher's justice is tempered with 
mercy. The weight of punishment is removed early enough to 
prove conclusively to the pupil that it was for his good and that 



150 lOAVA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

of the school that it was inflicted instead of its being done to sat 
isfy a personal evil feeling of the teacher. 7. The ability to ap- 
preciate the humorous side of really amusing things and the 
dignity that permits the teacher to join with propriety in the 
resulting laughter is a matter worthy the cultivation of more 
teachers. Children are natural humorists and swing readily from 
smiles to tears, and the teacher who would discipline well must be 
quick to take advantage of these tendencies. 8. Appreciation of 
the efiforts of pupils should find means of expression. Most 
people think they have done enough if they avoid saying un- 
pleasant things to others. The teacher should watch for opportu- 
nity to commend wisely. Good pupils deserve more attention 
than they get. The wayward can be helped by honest commenda- 
tion of the efiforts they make even though they may not be so 
successful as the teacher may desire. This must all be done 
adroitly and with such sincerity that all appearance of flattery 
with a selfish motive may be avoided. 9. The power of a strong 
personality is very helpful in discipline, but with it there lies a 
danger that some such teachers fail to appreciate. This power is 
frequently used to secure right conduct as a favor to the teacher 
which is an incentive that will leave the pupil and school in bad 
condition when that teacher leaves. In fact it is in bad condi- 
tion while he is with it for he is the one around whom right mo- 
tives cluster instead of being established on the good of the 
school. In the end the discipline is not of proper kind because it 
is based on the personal popularity of the teacher rather than 
proper motives of self control. 10. A reputation for certainty 
of punishment rather than swiftness or severity is a prime char- 
acteristic. That the treatment his misdemeanor deserves is sure 
to be meted out to him is one of the best preventives that can 
come to the notice of any child. 11. A good disciplinarian i.\i 
sensibly optimistic, for in that way he puts the best interpreta- 
tion upon all acts of pupils and thus is more sure of dealing justly. 
He takes a large view and has large faith in the ultimate success 
of what is right. 12. Steadiness, firmness, vigilance, dignity, 
politeness, saying little and doing much are qualities that can be 
mentioned as important, but there is not space to enter into a 
discussion of them. These are not all, but they are suggestive of 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 15^ 

things that the individual teacher may find it profitable to cul- 
tivate within himself. 

94.— EVIDENCES OF THE NEED OF DISCIPLINE. 

I. General disorder is an evidence of poor disciphne. This 
manifests itself on playground, in halls, through general man- 
ners of pupils and by attitudes assumed in studying and reciting. 
2. Poor lessons give evidence of too great laxity in .discipline 
Restraint of the chronic wrong doer is necessary or his ailment 
spreads so as to result in poor lessons in all the class. When poor 
lessons occur and the teacher has manifested the powers sugges- 
ted in management then it must be that some pupil or pupils are 
working against the interests of the class, and when that is true 
discipline must take charge of them. 3. Disobedience is a very 
positive evidence of want of discipline. The teacher has no right 
to desire to be obeyed simply because he is in authority for the 
time. As the interpreter of the law of the school he must hav; 
obedience to that law. Too often obedience is expected and de- 
manded because of the feeling of authority, power, rank, infalli- 
bility of judgment of the teacher. These are exterior influences 
and have little in them to arouse in pupils a desire to obey will- 
ingly. WiHing obedience is the kind that should be secured, but 
if individuals persist in disobeying the reasonable requirements 
that the good of the school demand, then they must obey because, 
of higher outside power. 4. Insolence is the final school sin 
since it is the exhibition of all loss of self respect and of interest 
in the good name and proper success of the school. It has the 
spirit and hopelessness of anarchy in it. It must be rooted oui 
at once or its deadly poison will permeate the vital organs of the 
entire school. 

95.— MEANS AND METHODS OF DISCIPLINE. 

The pupil should be led to see wherein his acts are detri- 
mental to the best interests of the school. When he sees this and 
promises to reform he should be given another trial. Continued 
failure to improve, however, makes him a culprit before the law 
of the school. If he does not respond to warning to private re- 
proof and admonition a more public notice must be given to his 



152 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

acts. This must be managed so that the preponderence of public 
sentiment of the school will be on the side of the law and order. 
That makes it necessary for the teacher to manifest many of the 
qualities mentioned on a former page. One very fair and useful 
means for giving larger publicity to the pupil's agreements and 
promises of reform when it becomes necessary is through a writ- 
ten paper of simple questions and answers which gradually lead 
to such admission of wrong doing as the pupil is willing to make 
and which also contains such pledge as he consents to make aftei 
he has thought it all out carefully. Let him work out these prob- 
lems. If he makes promises and persistently violates them he 
should agree that his classmates may be apprised of what has 
been done for him and let them judge as to how well he has kept 
his side of the agreement. At first these consultations are not 
real punishments but eventually they may thus be made so, not 
to humiliate but to give the school opportunity to see that jus- 
tice and other right principles of discipline have been observed 
and let proper censure thus fall upon him as a disloyal member 
of his school. Here comes the principle of all sending home for 
the day, suspension and final expulsion if that ever should be- 
come necessary. Expulsion- is a last resort, however. Sensible 
corporal punishment should be used below the High School if 
there is any hope that it will reach the desired end before expul- 
sion is put into effect. When privileges are abused deprivation 
for a time is the necessary course. This makes it admissible at 
times to detain the pupil and give him a recess by himself. He 
may remain for a time after school because of misbehavior when 
going home with others. He may remain to finish neglected 
work. It is not wise to keep after school and set tasks to be 
studied as punishments for misdemeanors of the schoolroom, 
such as whispering and so forth. He may be detained a short 
time for private consultation and reproof for such things. All 
punishments should grow as naturally as possible out of the na- 
ture of the offence and be justly proportional to the intention 
within the misdeed. Punishments that unduly humiliate or that 
endanger the body or health in any way should be avoided. 
Teachers should not be too anxious to see effects of weeping an(i 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 153 

similar emotional manifestations, as determinmg to secure them 
may result in undue severity. Also it savors a little of the idea 
of punishment for the satisfaction of the teacher and not for the 
good of the school and pupil. So far as possible pupils should be 
led to see and admit the fairness of what is done. General sug- 
gestions of things to be avoided may be giade effectively to whole 
school or classes if done in proper spirit, but consultation for 
correction of misdemeanors would better be with individuals 
rather than groups. So far as possible pupils should not be sent 
away angry. But if this can not be avoided let the teacher do 
his duty and wait for time to show the pupil the justice and ne- 
cessity of the course his teacher took. No kinds of punishment 
should be used habitually. They should vary. Not the same for 
all pupils, not the same for all offences, not even the same for one 
particular pupil with the same or different misdemeanors should 
be. the teacher's rule. A candidate for a teacher's certificate in 
an Iowa county in writing on a question m didactics recently said, 
"I have never taught, but this is the way I would see it as a pupil." 
In determining means and severity of punishment many times the 
teacher should see it not from the teacher's standpoint but from 
that of the sensible and fairminded pupil and justice will be done. 
All misdemeanors are against the school, none should be inter- 
preted as really against the teacher personally. 

96.— THE QUOTATION AS A FACTOR IN DISCIPLINE. 

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of 
silver." In accordance with this thought the quotation is very 
helpful in dealing with many cases in the course of a busy day in 
school. One of the first duties of the school is to impress the 
importance of a spirit of helpfulness. This is a part of manage- 
ment and discipline and cannot be reached without realization on 
the part of the pupil of the rights of others and his own duties in 
respect to those rights. He must be able to look upon his rela- 
tions to others from the position of that other person. The 
quotations that apply most readily to this general view of his du- 
ties are the familiar words from the scripture: "Whatsoever ye 
would that men should do to you do ye even so to them." "Thou 



154 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." The thought expressed in 
these texts must get into the life of the pupil, not as sentiment, 
but as living principles, before he is in condition to do fully his 
part as an orderly member of the school. A little couplet that 
comes nearer the child's feelings with the same thought is, "Be 
kind in all you say and do, that others may be kind to you." 

This may seem to get at the principle through inherent 
selfishness, but it is the concrete in morals that he must have, as 
he must have it in intellectual things, before he sees clearly what 
his own interests as well as those of others demand of him. When 
he arrives at an age that he may see that the injury of one in the 
school comunity, or in the larger unit of society in general, 
means the injury of all, he can more readily do his whole duty on 
such questions without the incentive of an immediate return to 
come to himself. When he is able to see that mobbing a crimi- 
nal lowers the standard of civilization for every man of the time 
he will need no appeals to his immediate interests to lead hirn in 
the right way. , , 

Aside from the general spirit of helpfulness that should be 
a fundamental in all efforts at government there are specific 
kinds of infractions of the unity of work that need attention and 
that may often be reached most effectively by means of a trite 
sentence that appeals to the better judgment of the pupil. Tardi- 
ness, idleness, thoughtlessness, impoliteness, low or imperfect 
ideals, bad habits, and kindred topics can be handled in a tactful 
way by this means with the very best of results in many cases. 
The besetting difficulties of certain individuals may be touched 
without offending, by class or teacher at the opportune time 
quoting a thought that is exactly suited to the difficulty at hand. 

A few quotations are given as illustrations. Tardiness: 
"Method is the very hinge of business, and there is no method 
without punctuality." — Hannah Moore. "Lost time is never 
found again, and what we call time enough, always proves little 
enough." — Benj. Franklin. "Time loiters not." — Bailey. "Idle- 
ness: "Be ashamed to catch yourself idle."— Anon. "The devl 
goes for the busy but the idle meet him half way." — Spurgeon. 
*Tn idleness alone there is perpetual despair." — Carlisle. "Do not 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 155 

undertake the dreadful drudgery of being an idler. "-Victor Hvigo. 
Politeness: "Politeness is to do and say the kindest things in 
the kindest way." — Anon. "True poHteness is perfect ease and 
freedom. It simply consists in treating others as you love to 
be treated yourself."— Chesterfield. "You can always discover a 
true gentleman by his address." — James Ellis. "Never interrupt 
another when he is speaking." — Washington. 

A miscellaneous list is given from which selections for vari- 
ous occasions or dispositions may be chosen. 

For he who will always do his best, 
His best will always grow; 
But he who shirks or slights his task, 
He lets the better go. — Plioebe Carey. 
"He overcomes a stout enemy that overcomes his own an- 
ger."— Chilo. 

"Let's have heads that think and hearts that beat.' — Spur- 
geon. 

"Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well." — 
Chesterfield. 

"Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound to- 
gether." — Goethe. 

"Dare to do right, dare to be true, 

The failings of others can never save you." — Wilson. 

"The fisher who draws in his net too soon; 

Won't have any fish to sell; 

The child who shuts up his book too soon, 

Won't learn any lesson well." — Swan. 

Grumblers never work, and workers never grumble." — Spur- 
geon. 

"They never taste who always drink; 

They always talk who never think." — Matthew Prior. 

Words are hke leaves; and where they most abound. 

Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found." — Pope. 

"Tongues are like race horses, the lighter they are loaded 
the faster they run." — Bishop Butler. 



156 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

"The empty cask makes more noise in rolling than a ftill 
one."' 

"'Think for thyself, one good idea, 

But known to be thy own. 
Is better than a thousand gleaned 

From fields by others sown." — Wilson. 
'"Waste not moments, no nor words. 

In telling what you could do 
Some other time; the present is 

For doing what you should do." — Phoebe Carey 

"Silence is one great art of conversation." — Hazlitt. 
"Laziness grows on people; it begins in cobwebs and ends 
in iron chains." — Sir Matthew Hale. 

"Better than gold is a thinking mind." — Alex. Smart. 

""It is not enough to have a sound mind; the principle :hing 
is to make a good use of it." — Descartes. 
""At every trifle scorn to take offence, 
That always shows great pride or little sense." — Pope. 
""A man of evil intentions easily believeth the worst." — Anon. 

' A man's success in life depends more upon his character 
than upon his talents or his genius." — Anon. 

■'The strength of a man's life is equal only to the strength 
of the weakest hour." — Rev. Thos. Dixon. 

""Xever accuse another to excuse yourself." "Politeness is 
the outward garment of good will." "Bad manners are a species 
of bad morals." "A person good at making excuses is seldom 
good at anything else." "A still tongue makes a wise head." 

The thoughtful teacher will find opportunity to use such 
quotations and many others probably more applicable to her 
special school needs. They become concrete and full of meaning 
to the pupil when repeated just at the time they are most suitable. 
He then has the experience uppermost that is necessary for a fun 
understanding of the sentiment. To illustrate: A boy given to 
asking for too much help can be reached by class quoting, ''Think 
for thyself." etc., when he is making his request for help. A class 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 157 

given to talking too much and on irrelevant points may have the 
Bishop Butler quotation,^ "Tongues are like race horses, the 
lighter they are loaded the faster they run." These should never 
be given in a tone of sarcasm. 

One great advantage in their use is that it takes out nearly all 
the element of personal rebuke by the teacher when the class or 
teacher quote the words of another in the right tone. They 
should be committed by all and named or numbered so that it is 
easy to refer to them. The practice of committing and reciting 
in concert at opening exercises or odd moments is an excellent 
means of getting a body of helpful thoughts into the minds of the 
pupils. In private correction the teacher may use them effect- 
ively. Not everything committed should be intended for the 
purpose of discipline, but the sentiment should he good and 
should contribute indirectly to the good of the pupil and that of 
the school. A result in no way to be overlooked is the effect 
such a course has upon the teacher. To correct with good re- 
sults by quoting a noble sentiment requires the teacher to em- 
body that sentiment in her life. Measure your daily life by some 
of the good quotations you find and thus see if you dare use 
them. 

97.— DEMOCRATIC OR CO-OPERATIVE SCHOOL GOV- 
ERNMENT. 

(A day in John Crerar school, (Chicr.go). 
I. The Plan. — The progressive teachers of Iowa, as in- 
deed are all teachers of that class, are* interested in any move- 
ment that promises better men and women as a result of the ed- 
ucation obtained in childhood in the public schools. -With equal 
unanimity all agree that there are lessons to be learned that are 
not directly found in the subjects laid down in the course or 
study. In the organization and management of the school itself 
many of the most important lessons for the embryo citizen may 
be impressed. The John Crerar pubHc school on the west side in 
Chicago is one of the places in which an intelligent attempt has 
been made for several years to enlist the interests and sympathies 
of the pupils from the primary through the grammar grades in 



158 U>WA STATE N'OKMAL SCHOOL. 

the good order, good name, and civic responsibilities that should 
naturally belong to the miniature democracy, or at least semi- 
democracy, that a public school should be. The devices used 
and the steps taken to put the plan in operation can not be ex- 
plained here for want of space, but any one interested and not 
familiar \nth these features can get information as to where mat- 
ter relating to them may be obtained by writting to Prin. John 
T. Ray, of the Crerar school. The purpose of this article is to 
report some observations and record a few impressions with a 
limited number of what seem reasonable conclusions from what 
the day's visit furnished. 

2. Halls and Playrooms. — On alighting from the car within 
a block of the school building at a few minutes of nine one morn- 
ing the writer had no adequate idea of what he should expect to 
see as he came nearer the school. There were pupils comins^, 
from various directions but all disappeared within the building 
through the several doors without appearance of teachers to 
form lines or to take charge in any visible manner. When ful'y 
inside a few pupils were seen going quietly to their rooms, but 
still there were no teachers to be seen in schoolroom doorways 
or the lower hall. The principal's office was found and a small 
boy present politely stated that Mr. Ray had not come yet, or at 
least he had not seen him. It seemed a little strange 
that a great school of seven hundred pupils of primarv 
and grammar grades should be distributed in the room so quietly 
and without a principal in evidence any where. It may be told 
here, parenthetically, that the principal was away on business at 
the rooms of the school board in another part of the city, and 
that he did. not return until well toward the close of the school 
day. While he is a very genial man and one that a visitor re- 
grets not to find about the building, on this particular day the 
purpose was answered even better by his absence than his pres- 
ence for the greater part of the time. With such an opportunity 
one could spend the time in the play rooms, about the halls, an-, 
in viewing the general workings of the system without any feel- 
ing that possibly the presence of the principal with him might 
explain in some degree the conditions that were seen. 



IOWA STATK NORMAL SCHOOL. 159 

In the playrooms of the boys at recess there was vigorous 
playing going on, but with the very best of spirit without a 
teacher in supervision. A visitor mingling among them was in no 
way made to feel uncomfortable, nor in fact did he seem to be 
noticed. When a boy was addressed by the visitor he responded 
respectfully and then a group would probably form to enter into 
conversation. All replies to questions were made in a manly 
and frank manner. A breaking up of the group by some leaving 
led to the remark that possibly we were detaming them and one 
replied that the tribune had said that it was time to go and all 
quietly took places in line on the stairway and returned in good 
order to their respective rooms. One boy said, "We are from 
the sixth grade, room three, won't you visit our room?" He had 
a manifest pride in his school and seemed to express in words 
what many others felt but did not reduce to formal utterance. 
The playroom order could not help impressing one. The spirit 
of friendliness and good will that was evident removed so thor- 
oughly the thought of his being a stranger that one could feel his 
boyhood blood racing through his veins making him wish for 
the backward flight of time that he might be one of them again 
and have just one more romp with the boys. Good boyhood, 
ideals seemed clearly discernable in the playrooms. 

3. Teachers, halls, and schoolrooms. — The teachers, too, 
seemed to have a recess. A number gathered about a table in 
one of the wide halls and had opportunity for rest and a few- 
minutes of relief irom the active schoolroom duties. These 
teachers did not seem to be looking after the halls, and in fact 
there was evidence that the pupils did not rely on them for guid- 
ance as to their own acts. There seemed to be one teacher on 
duty, but rather as referee or an adviser th?.l could readily be 
found should anything out of the ordinary happen, than acting in 
the capacity of an officer of the day looking after lines of march- 
ers. In the ordinary occupations of the school, in most cases, 
there was such a spirit about the rooms that one could easily no 
tice the absence of the nerve-straining high tension under which 
so many schools are conducted and on account of which stram 
so many teachers break down. The voices and manner of teach 



100 IOWA STATE N0R3IAL SCHOOL. 

ers and pupils revealed a decidedly good feeling in general, es- 
pecially when numoers and elements which must be present and 
might be troublesome are taken into consideration. One room 
visited gave a good opportunity to see what pupils w^ould do in 
the absence of the teacher. The work in drawing had scarcely 
well started when the teacher was called from the room and de- 
tained ten. or possibly fifteen minutes, and in that time there wa.-. 
not a movement that would indicate anything that would not 
have been allowable in the presence of the teacher. There is no 
doubt that there are individual teachers working in other schools 
who have such iniluence over the school that a similar example 
of faithfulness would be manifested on such an occasion, but un- 
mistakable evidences and a few words of testimony *'rom the 
principal give assurance that this is not so rare a thin^- there as 
in most large schools. 

4. Dismissals. — At the end of the sessions the hall manipu- 
lations were in the hands of pupils and the building was emptied 
in a very short time in an orderly manner. The lines may no' 
have had the military precision or the measured tread so dear 
to the hearts of some authorities, but the children passed quietly 
and in good order, but with a childlike naturalness that was 
pleasant to see. The power animating and controlling these ac- 
tivities was so fully concealed and yet so actively at work that ii 
was worth a great deal of effort to see this part of the school day 
alone. It was not the movement of dead machiner\- impellea 
from without but the activity of a living organism moving 
through the power of a right motive force within. It was not 
icy formalism but organized life. At the close of the day's ses- 
sion some of the pupils loitered about some fresh school work 
that had been posted on a bulletin screen standing in the hall for 
that purpose. They had such an "at-home-air" that it did one 
good to watch them and realize that there is a power of self con- 
trol in the average child if he is touched along the right inter- 
ests of his life. The behavior of the children towards strangers 
and those passing on the streets was another noticeable feature 
of the school. We were told that very little trouble of this kind 
occurs and that the teachers are always treated with kindness 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 161 

and consideration on the street by the pupils. The atmosphere 
in and about the school was far more congenial and pleasant 
than it is found to be in many schools, possibly one should say in 
most schools. 

5. Not "soft" government. — The use of the term "pupil 
government," in connection with these efforts has created a 
wrong impression in some localities. In fact, at present there 
seems to be an effort on the part of the advocates of the move- 
ment to remove the misunderstanding by use of the expressions, 
"democratic," or "co-operative," government. As one sees the 
workings of the system in this school he can plainly discern that 
it is not a government — or absence of government as would be 
the result — by throwing the entire control into the hands of un- 
developed boys and girls through a system of elections, assem- 
blies, courts and the like. Such a course would probably beget 
anarchy from which would result tyranny before order could be 
restored. The plan is rather the employment of organized mo- 
tives and sentiments of the best disposed pupils in getting < heir 
hearty co-operation in the organization and management of the 
school. The pupils, teachers, and principal unite in a plan where- 
by those well disposed and willing to exercise proper self con- 
trol may have special privileges for themselves, or more properl) , 
may have freedom from restrictions imposed from the outside so 
long as they take themselves in hand properly and take no ad- 
vantage or abuse no privileges that will injure the school, includ 
ing children, teachers and patrons. Ordinarily the pupil feels 
that so long as the teacher does not tell him he must not do a 
thing no matter what his own judgment would suggest to him 
to be the right thing to do, he is perfectly free to persevere in 
the wrong course. He gives his judgment and conscience over 
into the keeping of another and he takes no responsibility upon 
himself for his acts, but expects the teacher to catch him and 
then to tell him what he must do. In a decided degree the Cre- 
rar school seems to break down the idea that the pupil should 
take no responsibility for himself and his companions us to the 
conduct in and about the school. There is a healthy sentiment 
against law breaking and law breakers and a disposition to see 



1(52 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

that wrong is made right and that the wrong doer is warned and 
brought to justice. 

In order to iUustrate that the difficulties are not all removed 
by this plan (as no one acquainted with its workings claims is 
true) and that the man at the head stands for something positive 
and is exerting his influence to bring right results, two incident:-, 
that occurred at the close of the day in the principal's office are 
related. A father came in to see about some difficulty that the 
school and he were trying to work out with respect to his boy. 
The statement was kindly but frankly made to him that his boy 
was troublesome and that he could not be allowed to go on in the 
course he was taking. It was agreed that the boy must behave 
and that school and parent would unite to enforce the decree. 
There was a positiveness about the proceedings that assured one 
that the evil doer was not given his way simply because he chose 
to go that way, but that he was to be made to realize that he 
mtist conform to requirements of the community life in which he 
found his life cast. Another thing that showed both the spirit 
of the school and the method of looking carefully into matters 
to warn, encourage, and lead into right habits of control of self, 
was a little conversation that we heard between the principal and 
an eighth grade pupil. The pupil brought to the office ten cent.=* 
to pay for a window pane which he had broken with a ball. He 
had come promptly and confessed that he had broken the 
window without having to be hunted down. He also stated 
frankly, when asked, what other boys were present, but added, 
"I broke the glass though." The reply to his statement was, 
"That is true, but I must see the other boys for they were not 
exercising proper control over themselves or they would not 
have been playing with you at a time that would be out of order 
and endanger property." There was a spirit and a frankness 
about these incidents that showed a disposition to right doing 
and at the same time a revelation that attention is given where 
help is needed. It seems perfectly safe to say, however, thai 
the greater part of the trials of hall order, management of play- 
room, spirit in the class room, and right sentiments toward the 
school and one's civic duties are assumed and worked out by 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 1(33 

the pupils greatly to their own advantage and training, and in 
such a manner as to relieve the teachers from strain and make 
the work more effective. 

Some conclusions. — A few statements are given in conclu- 
sion as the results of the impressions received from the day's 
visit. There is something in the system worthy of the study and 
attempted application by teachers. However, if one is not hon- 
est, earnest, persevering, large hearted, sympathetic, hopeful, and 
positive he must expect results according to his weaknesses as 
in any other oocupation or course that he may undertake. Thi 
training in assuming control of self, taking proper attitude to- 
ward wrong, wrong doing, and the wrong doer in the community 
and seeing that the offender reforms or is properly reported to 
higher authority, is of the greatest value. Natural motives of de- 
sire to be trusted, to undertake reasonable difficulties on one's 
own responsibilities, to see justice and right prevail, are thus 
utilized and consequently developed and trained. A concrete 
training in proper spirit of reverence of our home, our school, 
community, city, state, and nation, is thus given the child early in 
his life. 

The naturalness of the pupil under such treatment shows that 
it is nearer the conditions that prevail in the majority of homes 
where children are led by impressing of right ideals rather than 
always being made the automatons to move only at the will ot 
another. Children should obey the self imposed law of the school 
as found in the necessary life of the school itself, but the most 
effective obedience is that which comes from the desire of the 
pupil to obey because his will is in accord with the community's 
sentiment of right and wrong. 

Finally, a word of caution is offered to those disposed to 
view everything out of the ordinary as fanciful, or to refuse it 
any credit unless it can be shown to reach all evils imposed upon 
the school by the wayward, or who say the same thing can be 
found in use in past times, or who insist that it is easier to make 
pupils do what they should in school than it is to lead them to 
do right through their own motives. Granted, that there is some 



l(U IOWA STATK NOH.MAL SOUOtU, 

truth in all these statements should you still deny the children 
the right to that training that promises better men and women 
in the homes and better citizens in the state? There is much that 
is worthy in the idea of democratic school government and a 
study of the fundamental principles on which the ideal systea; 
may be founded, eventually, is vastly more useful than to see 
nothing but the weaknesses. Pupils should obey, not their 
teachers only, but the higher law of proper self control for the 
good of others and themselves through exercise of their own will 
power to understand the right thing. 



IOWA S'lATE NORMAL SCHOOL. | f); 

SPIRIT, OBSERVATION, REVIEWS. 



The Teacher's Spirit. 

98.— RIGHT SPIRIT IN GENERAL. 

It is the spirit manifested toward his work that makes any 
person attain his highest value to his employer and to society. 
There is, perhaps no other occupation in which the spirit put into 
the day's duties is of more consequence than that of the teacher. 
It is only the full hearted teacher that can give expression to 
motives and sentiments that are the real educational influences 
There are few people who can so thoroughly rise above the dis- 
position to put desire before duty that there are no elements of 
drudgery in their daily tasks. The spirit put into the work may 
lighten thes^, however, and what is drudgery to the manv may 
to some become not pleasurable but useful in the power de- 
veloped by difficulties overcome. Few teachers would agree 
when trying to make a list of the things that should be named 
the drudgery of school day. In the next topic are a few things 
that try many teachers and the ability to meet them calmly, with- 
out a word of evidence of a disturbed interior, bespeaks a per- 
son of great self control and earnest devotion to the interests 
of her school. 

99._TOWARD THE DAILY, WEEKLY AND MONTHLY 

ROUTINE. 

The spirit put into the task of preparation for the work of 
the coming day has much to do with the success of that day. 
Those people are most fortunate and happiest who have little 
drudgery and few worries. Not that they have fewer responsi- 
bilities and duties than others, but because of the spirit put 
into the work the nature of the duties themselves seem changed. 
Such persons have few troubles. What others call troubles they 
regard as incidents of their occupation and of daily life in gen- 
eral. I. Planning lessons and work for the day can not be 
escaped if one desires power and success. New days bring new 
responsibilities. 2. Looking over written work, especially when 



1(*H) IOWA STATK NOKMAL SCHOOL. 

the writing- is poor, and worst of all when so many mistakes are 
found which pupils have been told so often to avoid and shown 
how to do it. It takes a brave heart and large faith here. 3. 
Selecting matter for opening- exercises and making the exercises 
of practical value and interesting. This topic is discussed brieflv 
on other pages. 4. Keeping room, desks, boards, and pupils 
in order. Especially in this last point does the weary teacher 
many times find her spirits all exhausted when the hour for clos- 
ing arrives. Such times as this are the places to stop and "count 
your blessings." 5. Keeping records and making reports is 
another trying occupation. Under some superintendents this 
becomes a '"weariness to the flesh" that may make it almost 
pardonable for the worn teacher to think some uncomplimentary 
things about the inventor of red tape, especially the school va- 
riety of red tape. However the distasteful has its place and may 
be so put under the feet of the laborer as to lift )iiin instead of 
bending his shoulders with a load of over heavy burdens. This 
is another place to count blessings. 6. So much has been said 
on other pages about the work of the recitation period that it will 
simply be mentioned here. Earnestness, enthusiasm, accuracy, 
clear grasp of w^ork to be done and lirm but good natured deter- 
mination that definite work must be done by pupils are all essen- 
tials in this period to show right spirit. 

IOC— IN RELATION TO PROFESSIONAL IMPRO\'E- 

MENT. 

I. Ever>' teacher should have some means of knowing per- 
sonally of the educational discussions and movements of the day. 
Attendance at local teachers' meetings in graded schools and in 
township or other local units under the county superintendent 
should be regarded as an opportunity rather than a requirement. 
No meeting can fail to be of benefit if all, or the majority of the 
teachers, go there with profitable questions that they desire dis- 
cussed and wnth a disposition to say something as opportunity 
may oft'er. It shows a lack of proper spirit for the teacher to 
complain of such meetings that they are not profitable and try 
to throw all responsibility on the presiding officer and executive 
connnittee. Be fair and say to your "profes'^ional self." "What 
have you done, sir, to make these meetings successful?" The 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. lfJ7 

good seats in the lecture hall are demanding too much from the 
platform; the pew requires, too often, that the pulpit must fur- 
nish all the enthusiasm in the preaching and other church work. 
Dead embers are plentiful; real, live coals are in demand in the 
teachers' meetings and elsewhere. Aside from the local meet- 
ings come the county gatherings occasionally, the sectional 
meetings of the various sections of the state, and the State As 
sociation meetings. The progressive teacher attends and is per- 
sonally interested in as many of these as possible. 2. The great 
educational effort for the ordinary teacher each year, of course, 
is the county institute. If this is what the county superinten- 
dents labor hard to have it be, it should be of value to nearly 
all teachers of the county. There are some who may be gradu- 
ates of higher institutions or because of superior professional 
attainments may not find the institute valuable, and to those 
the sensible superintendent shows such favors as his oath of 
office will allow. However, there are some claiming such recog- 
nition on slender arguments. Others can be found who have the 
diploma mentioned but who sit qnietly down and never help th'j 
institute or other educational gatherings of the county in any way 
and still desire recognition as candidates for good positions or 
even for the superintendency of the county. Such people are un- 
professional in spirit to say the least. The teacher who attends 
a good summer school is sometimes excused from institute at- 
tendance. This would seem but fair and yet there are questions 
entering into it that none but the superintendent on the ground 
can actually decide. To the teacher who attends the institute it 
may be said that one secures benefits in accordance with the 
previous preparation and the spirit of work and earnestness 
shown during the session. The teachers of a county have a con- 
siderable part in making the institute what it should be. 3. The 
professional reading of teachers is a question of large importance. 
As to the kind of educational papers one should read each 
teacher must, in great measure, be "a law unto himself." There 
are papers suitable to teachers, of all degrees of development. As 
the teacher grows in skill and power she should outgrow some 
educational journals, but she snould thereby grow into others. 
Attorneys, physicians, ministers, business men in general, and 
farmers who are progressive read the journals devoted especially 



](3S IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, 

to their work. Why should the teacher, the leader of the educa- 
tional work of the community, be without a regular journal? 
Aside from the journals the progressive teacher reads some pro- 
fessional books. It is not the best policy to rely on borrowed 
books entirely for this reading. He should purchase and read, 
mark, re-read, and mark again some of the standard professional 
works each year. No book gives its best results by one reading. 
In connection with the specifically professional reading every 
teacher should do some general reading of papers, and maga- 
zines that will keep him posted on the movements of the thought 
of the day. Some good books should also be read, but by no 
means should the busy teacher feel that he must keep up with 
all oreven most of the late popular books. Most of the popular 
books one can afford to wait a year before reading and then it 
may be that he will find that there is something more profitable 
he can do than to read certain books at all. If he decides otherwise 
then he has a very good reason for reading them and the time wall 
be profitably spent. The following suggestion may savor a little 
of "shop" — a thing about which some people seem peculiarly 
sensitive — but it is well for the teacher to try to find help for his 
particular work in all the reading he does. Reading should make 
one a better w^orkman in his own line regardless of the fact of 
its not being specifically professional and in no other calling is 
general information more in demand than in that of the teacher. 

loi.— REGARD FOR COMPENSATION. 

I. In selecting a life work the question of compensation is 
one of primary consideration. Every teacher should regard 
the question of salary as one of importance. The salary should 
stand as nearly as possible up to a just recognition of value of 
service. It should not be a measure of effort, however. The 
true spirit of service assumes that in taking a position one agrees 
to give his best effort and his time to the work he has accepted. 
Promotion comes through earning more than the salary re~ 
ceived. 2, It is a proper motive to desire to merit and win 
the approval of the general public. This is all right when the 
attempt to reach the end is made through superior work and 
attainments and not through subterfuges. Also the approval 
of the children should be desired, but especially should it be that 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. IC)Q 

which they can justly give when they are men and women and the 
judgment is well developed. Sometimes the immediate judgment 
of the child will be reversed in after life, which shows that the 
teacher failed in a measure to get the approval through right 
motives of the child. 3. Every good teacher has some pride 
in his "profession" and desires that his standing as a teacher 
may be such as to give credit to all others of his class. Or at 
least he should feel that the name "teacher" should not be low- 
ered because he is one. 4. Great good can come to the teacher 
from the opportunities for personal growth and development if 
the spirit is kept right. Little can be expected of that person 
who has no desire to become a master in his trade. To have 
no ambition or longing to be a superior workman is the curse 
ol far too many lives. The true spirit inspires to better things. 
The school room furnishes the grandest opportunity for the de- 
velopment of true manhood and womanhood in the teacher that 
can be found anywhere. There is every reason for the one who 
daily stands before children to have the highest of ideals and to 
strive constantly to live up to those ideals. This is a part of 
the compensation in teaching that should be secured by every 
teacher and should in no wise be neglected in counting the re- 
wards of the teacher's life. 5. Another motive that actuates the 
earnest spirited teacher is the desire to save pupils. "Education 
should counteract sin by making the race stronger." — Hughes. 
There are dangers against which every pupil must struggle. He 
needs the inspiring help of a true teacher all along the way. Go 
out for the wounded. What are the names that will fill the 
blank prison records now waiting? The places left vacant and 
the names written there with a little less crimson because of the 
efforts of devoted teachers none but the Infinite can ever know. 

102.— SPIRIT TOWARDS PARENTS AND OTHERS. 

I. The feeling toward parents should be of a nature to en- 
courage their co-operation. They are willing to accord the 
teacher all the power necessary and not interfere with his pre- 
rogatives if he will make himself so approachable that the pa- 
rent can feel in him a friend instead of a self centered monarch 
not to be approached by any excepting those to whom he may 
stretch forth his sceptre. Parents have interests and burdens 



170 IOWA STATK NOKMAl. SOIUHM.. 

that shouKl appeal to tho toaohcr as sci\siblo and worth) of his 
recognition. J. A dictatorial manner toward the janitor of the 
building- is a mistake. \\'in and nnite for the good of the school 
every person who in any way touches it. Make an effort to 
manage so as to reduce the work of the janitor rather than in- 
crease it. Be willing to give hint all the credit possible for help- 
fulness. 3. There is many a noble, self-sacriticing man on the 
school boards of our state whose efforts are worthy of the most 
thorough connnendation by teachers. He ser\'es without pay 
and stands frequently between the schools and the scheming of 
those who would sell them for a mess of pottage. He is the 
teacher's best friend and should occasionally know that his ef- 
forts are appreciated. Of course proper reg^ard for the position 
and work of principal or superintendent as a school official is 
essential in proper spirit. 4. Time is precious, but the teacher 
who makes every one w ho has a little business with him feel tliat 
he can not be bothered out of school hours, is missing one of 
the greatest of opportunities to learn and to win the help of 
others. Agents of various sorts may take some time but they will 
be glad to accommodate their calls to the teacher's convenience 
usually. The representatives of book tirms are entitled to re- 
spectful hearing and tliey can give items of general information 
about books that any teacher may use to advantage. Get more, 
even from your interrogator, than he gets from you. On the 
other hand, the stranger expects you to stand reasonably in the 
background imtil there is reason for a show of interest. There- 
fore, do not try to force processes by excessive aft"ability. 5. Pa. 
tience in answering provoking missives; charity when there is 
an opportunity for complaining of remissness: kindly remem- 
brance of personal circumstances, inquiry after sick ones, con- 
gratulations on success, cordial wishes for the future are sug- 
gestions given as an opportunity for the application of practical 
religion in business. There is a wealth of suggestion for the 
teacher here also. More interest in others will remove many or 
the teacher's ills. 6. A good time socially is not to be denied 
the teacher occasionally, but when that seems to be the end for 
which the teacher lives her life as a teacher is liable to be brief. 
Teaching is the tirst business of the teacher, and these other mat- 
ters while proper enough should be made secondary. Behavior 



IcnVA SI'A'I'K NOIIMAL KCIIOOI.. J^J^ 

on the streets and in other pubhc places shows the true dignity 
or lack of it in the teacher. In some senses the teacher must 
sacrifice personal liberty of action for the good of the pupil and 
in accordance with the common customs of the place in which 
he is working. Care in one's personal life is very necessary, and 
the spirit of daring to run contrary to the ideas of the community 
on social questions is fatal to a teacher's success. 7. In the 
spirit toward the work of other teachers the manliness or wo- 
manliness has an opportunity to assert itself. Jealousy, envy, 
spreading evil reports and similar traits and actions are beneath 
the dignity of a true teacher. As a body teachers are ready to 
help and accord all credit to one of their number who does well. 
There is room at times for more courtesy in the struggle for po- 
sitions and other public recognition. Teachers are probably no 
worse in these respects than other people, but possibly some 
should be better. 8. The spirit toward the children. Of all 
the manifestations of the proper spirit this is probably the most 
important. To assume and maintain the right atittude toward 
childhood is a fundamental in the success of the teacher, 
(i). There is much literature that is helpful in this j)articular. 
Longfellow has written various things but the best of his when 
read and studied until the real meaning enters the mind is the 
poem, "Children." Other quotations are plentiful. "Children 
are magnets drawing age back to youth again." "Children are 
the to-morrow of society." Wheatly. "Children have more need 
of model than of critics." Joseph Joubert. (2). But better than 
the pages of literature alone is the study at first hand of the 
child himself. It is tp be sincerely hoped that' the devotee to 
scientific child study shall not be allowed to use the expression, 
"child study," in his way so long as to frighten others from the 
sensible study that every intelligent teacher should make. There 
are two sides to the teaching of the chna and sympathy with 
him will blend them in about the proper proportion. These are 
example and experience. The former gets down beside the child 
and puts him on his feet. The latter allows him to walk when he 
has once learned. (3). Gratitude is a plant of slow growth and 
teachers must not be too anxious to see fruits in the apprecia- 
tion of their efforts through the expressions of approval by the 
children. Here is a key point m the characteristics of teachers 



172 IOWA STATE NOKMAl. SCHOOL. 

in the fact that they are too impatient to see results. Let time 
be your prime minister. Do the work faithfully and wait for re- 
sults. (4). Doing the same thing over in a mechanical way has 
a deadening effect on the powers. One of the beauties of child-, 
hood is that it insists on variety and thus keeps the teacher from 
ossification of soul. 5. The teacher is not a dealer in intellectual 
wares and it is a mistake to think of work with pupils as meas- 
ured by the expense one has put upon his education. That edu- 
cation is worth all it costs in the added manhood or womanhood 
to the teacher and is not an article to be measured in a commer- 
cial way. The power ought to be used just as any power should 
be used, but its importance is not in the intellectual products to 
be sold to school boards to be dealt out day by day to children 
of the district. The real teacher is the cultivator of immortal as- 
pirations and the stimulator of undying inspiration. 

103.— SOME GENERAL THOUGHTS. 

There are various formulas for reaching that state where 
one can meet nearly all the difficulties incident to the daily work 
of the teacher in the proper spirit, but one good one is found in 
Drummond's lecture, "The Greatest Thing in the World." 
Teachers should remember, however, that they are not the only 
people whose burdens are such that they must constantly keep 
replenishing their stock of patience, and of the other virtues. 

2. It is a dangerous thing for us to fall to pitying ourselves 
and think that we are martyrs to the cause of human advance- 
ment. It is a good thing to remember that, "'thy fate is but the 
common fate of all," and take heart. 

3. "The teacher's business is to inspire, to illuminate, to in- 
struct. Goodness is greater than greatness." — Gunsaulus. 

4. The world is so calloused with cares and crosses that the 
one who would brighten it must carry an extra supply of cheer- 
fulness else the indiflference will exhaust his efforts before re- 
sults are reached. 

5. If the place you desire is not at hand take one that is. 
"Most anybody can do a thing he feels like doing, but it takes 
a true man to do a thing when he doesn't feel like doing it." — 
Sam Jones. "Get thy spindle and thy distaff' ready and God will 
send thee the flax." 

6. Finally — Not our care for the large place in the hearts 
of others for ourselves, but the large place in our hearts for oth- 
ers is the kev to true success. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 173 

11. 

Observation, or School Visitation. 

104.— THE OBSERVER OR VISITOR. 

1. There are three classes into which school visitors may 
be divided. These are officials, including school officers, princi- 
pals and superintendents; parents and sometimes other inter- 
ested persons who may have no children in school; teachers, who 
visit and observe as a means of professional growth and improve- 
ment. Each individual of these classes will carry away impres- 
sions colored by the particular purpose he has in visiting, and by 
the special relation he bears to the school. All will center their 
attention, however, on the teacher and find in him, in the main, 
the explanation for the conditions found. This may be just and 
there may be much injustice in it at times. But regardless of the 
questions of fairness it is deeply rooted in the common mind, 
"as is the teacher, so is the school." All successful operations 
have a inind and personality back of them somewhere. 

2. In the following discussion the "teacher observer" will 
be chiefly in mind, but some things said may well apply to all the 
classes named. The observer should approach his task with a 
proper spirit. The good to be gained from observation is de- 
pendent upon the attitude assumed by the person viewing the 
work. If the purpose is to get a grist of shortcomings of other 
teachers and other schools out of which to compound a cake 
of condolence to render palatable one's every day diet of his own 
mistakes and failures the time spent in observation might be em- 
ployed to better advantage in some other occupation. Hunting 
faults dulls one's faculty for recognition of virtues. Enough er- 
rors lie on the surface to prevent any person's forgetting their 
existence. The spirit of the visitor should be the humbler and 
more generous one of that of a learner The mind alert to the 
movement of the school or class work and generously attempting 
10 discover why things are done thus and so, is the only one that 
can reap a rich harvest from observation of others at work. It 
is better not to undertake the work of observation at all than to 
come to it with a mind half-blindfolded and benumbed by as- 
suming the place of an adverse critic. If not a mantle of charity. 



174 IOWA STATE XORMAL SCHOOL. 

at least one of good, common sense should envelop the visitor at 
all times. 

3. Seeking- out schools and exercises that give evidences of 
what the pupil can do in display work rather than what he is in 
himself in power, health, and control is not the most profitable 
employment of one's time. To visit a school expecting spectacu- 
lar displays and exhibitions of educational curiosities is a mis- 
take. If such schools exist they should be visited as holiday di- 
versions and not when one is in the serious occupation of trying 
to equip himself better as a teacher. The search for the startling 
and curious are as much out of place in this line as in other lines 
of educational activity. Evolution is better than revolution, and 
its movement is such that one may readily keep pace with it. and 
it is this conservative condition with its impulse of growth for 
which the visitor should look. 

4. The observer should take a broad view. Circumscribed 
vision results in a crippled mind. Each exercise in management 
and discipline should be seen and interpreted in the broadest 
relation possible and not as to immediate results alone. The 
observer should see each point made in the teaching process not 
in its present relations only, but also in the broader and larger 
bearing of the entire lesson and the entire subject. Trying to 
settle each item as to its correctness as it appears in the progress 
of the lesson will load to a narrow view and defeat the ver}' pur- 
pose of the observation hour. Not only should the question in 
the mind of the on-looker be — "Why does the teacher do this; 
but also, what is the relation of what is now being done to the 
completed lesson, subject, and the life of the learner?" \"iew not 
too narrowly. 

105.— THINGS TO BE OBSERVED. 

It should be remembered that not all of the following points 
should be regarded as of the same importance. Neither is the 
order supposed to be that of relative value in any way. 

I. Externalities, accessories, or mechanics of the class or 
school, (a). Condition of the room-floor, desks, blackboard, 
temperature, ventillation. (b). Seating of pupils and of recit- 
ing class. (c\ Books, pencils, and other materials — in use — 
not in use — by class studying — by class reciting, (d). Appara- 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 175 

tus, adaptability, quantity, (e). General atmosphere — coldness, 
statue-like positions or such as indicate indifference and disor- 
der, high tension or no tension, animation or lifelessness. 

2. The teacher, (a). Manner — Is it that of calm, unruffled 
dignity that speaks of power without the appearance of attempt- 
ing to wear its badge on the exterior? Is she really confident of 
her ability or only playing make-believe attainments? Does the 
manner show animation and give evidence of power to win the 
confidence of the pupils? Is the teacher's bearing such as to 
indicate a nagging disposition and one that invites antagonism? 
Is the voice well modulated so as to show self-control and power 
on the part of the teacher? (b). Questions — Is the form proper 
and calculated to make the pupil think? Are the questions both 
thoughtful and reasonably comprehensive? Is the order of the 
questions such as to lead to the sensible development of the 
lesson points in logical order? Are the questions effective in 
reaching desirable results? (c). Management — In passing 
questions around the class and in naming the pupil that is to 
recite. In answering the questions that arise from pupils. Suc- 
cess in meeting unexpected ignorance and turning the failures 
of members of the class into advantage for the attainment of 
higher powers as a teacher. Skill manifested in meeting inter- 
ruptions and in dealing with inattention. Helpfulness of the de- 
vices used and the readiness with which they are applied. 
Adaptability to the matter in hand of the exercises given to the 
class to perform. The use of voice, eye, gestures, and expres- 
sions of the countenance in a way that reaches the difficulty with- 
out attracting undue attention. Economy shown by making a 
little talking say a great deal. Judgment, earnestness, and per- 
sistency shown in efforts made to fix in minds of pupils right 
lines of action demanded by the interests of the school as a body. 

3. The pupils, (a). Is the attitude toward the teacher that 
of respect, indifference or positive insolence? (b). Do they sit 
properly and stand squarely on their feet when they recite? 
(c). Are their answers clear, pointed, audible, thoughtful, and in 
pure English? (d). Do they ask sensible, time-killing, or im- 
pertinent questions? (e). Do they do their work in a manner 



176 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

that indicates directness of thought and with effective results? 
(f). Is their deportment in general commendable? 

4. The lesson, (a). Is it possible to see an end in view to- 
ward which the teacher is definitely leading the class? Or. in 
other words, do the teacher and class have an aim to be reached 
in the period? (b). What is done in the wav of an introduction 
that prepares the class for the better understanding of the new 
part of the subject not yet met in recitation? (c). In the dis- 
cussion of the new matter are the points made in logical order, 
comparison properly made, and general truths clearly stated? 
(d). In closing is there a careful summary of the essential points 
and some fixing drills to impress them on the minds of pupils? 
(c). And finally, is the assignment for the next day clearly and 
carefully made so that there is no mistaking what is to be done in 
the study hour and what will be expected in the recitations? 

Summarize and put into writing your observ-ations with 
principles on which they seem to you to be founded. 

III. 

Opening Exercises. 

On this question of opening exercises there seems to be 
much uncertainty both as to the purpose and to the material or 
means to be used in conducting them. To make them effective 
three things are especially essential. They must have educa- 
tional value: they must be brief; they must be varied. The fol- 
lowing points are given as suggestions and are not presumed to 
be exhaustive. The thinking teacher will depart from these lines, 
btit she may possibly get some help in starting by reading them 
thoughtfully. 

106.— PURPOSES. 

I. To get the school started as a unit for the day. Pupils 
come from various homes bearing experiences to school that 
are very different in their nature. Some are just arriving when 
the bell rings, others have been on the ground at play so that in 
this way minds are not centered on the same things. The open- 
ing exercises should be so ordered that the minds may at once 
be turned into the same channel, thus preparing for a more uni- 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 177 

fied day's work. A few moments for adjusting one's self to the 
new conditions are very essential to teacher and pupil alike. 

2. To arouse an interest that will encourage promptness. 
These exercises should be a factor in keeping the tardy record 
lower than it would be without them. Instinctive curiosity and 
the feeling that we may lose something have more to do with 
older people in making them prompt than they probably recog- 
nize or would be willing to admit. This tendency should be rec- 
ognized and utiHzed in school days. 

3. To give general exercises that can not well be given at 
any other period of the day. This point will be illustrated under 
the next leading topic and consequently will not be discussed at 
length here. Often a gathering up of the experiences of the 
previous day of school or the review of some entertainment of 
the preceding evening may furnish material for a general dis- 
cussion with the school that would fit well at any other time in 
the program. 

4. To make suggestions that help in school government 
and that improve the pupils' ideals. The tactful turning of a 
playground incident, or the sensible use of a well selected story, 
may be able to touch some difficult problem of discipline in a 
manner that no other thing could reach so effectively. A good 
quotation on industry learned and heartily recited by teacher 
and pupils together and by classes and some singly, will put an 
air of earnestness and a spirit of work into a school many times 
that is surprising. The first few minutes of the day are a great 
power in the formation of ideals. The minds are then fresh, the 
interests are all centered in the operations of the day and then 
ideals that may be realized in the workings of the school room 
and play-ground may readily be set up for the united effort of the 
pupils for attainment. 

107.— MEANS AND MATERIALS. 

I. Stories that appeal to the common experiences of all 
children and that embody the principles and ideals of right liv- 
ing. Likewise stories that are adapted to special occasions and 
to the various seasons may be used. Books and stories may be 
read, but preparing on a chapter or a complete short story and 



17js IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

telling it is much better. The teacher that would make a suc- 
cess of this work as well as in the class work, must culti^•ate the 
storv- "instinct" continually. Random stories \\-ill not do and 
those used must be fresh and adapted to the needs of the occa- 
sion. Collections of stories can be found on the market, and 
while very good to use for these exercises they have not reached 
their full value in the hands of the teacher if this is the end of 
the use she makes of them. Probably their greatest value con- 
sists in the training that such a volume properiy studied can give 
one in the ability to select stories wisely from fresh sources in 
papers and magazines. Good short stories and the ability to tell 
them well will put a teacher at a premium more quickly than al- 
most any other special gift. This is not a gift, but something 
that may be cultivated by any intelligent, industrious person. 
A source of excellent stories that should not be overlooked is 
the Bible. It from no other motive this source is worthy of the 
highest attention, because it is classic literature. Too many of 
us are lamentably weak in our common reading of ordinar\- lit- 
erature because we do not see the force of the scriptural allu- 
sions that fill the pages of the best authors. Thiny-four fresh- 
men in an eastern college when given selections from Tennvson 
to explain the scriptural allusions gave only 32S correct answers 
out of a possible 74S. The opening exercises in our schools 
could well do something to offset this condition by using the 
best of the Bible stories as a means of interesting pupils. 

2. Simple experiments that may easily be performed can h^ 
used to give \-ariety and interest to the morning opening. Spe- 
cific gra\-ity, the principle of the action of the siphon, inertia, 
law of gra^■ity and the like may readilv be illustrated by the in- 
telligent, wide awake teacher. Inexpensive little books gi^"ing 
information in performing such experiments are on the market 
so that any teacher may be equipped. Our school journals fur- 
nish much good material in this particular also. The teacher's 
own native good sense should do much to help along in this line. 
If she cannot do an>-thing there is probably some bright boy in 
the school who can furnish enough material of the kind to make 
a start. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 179 

3. Current events are never dry when presented in the right 
way. The whole school should be interested in this exercise. It 
might be used once a week, toward the close, so that the weekly 
papers of the majority of the homes may be brought into use. 
Until pupils show some good judgment in the selection of the 
items that they present there might be a revising committee to 
prevent the waste of time and the cultivation of wrong taste that 
would otherwise grow up. The teacher should be an advisory 
member of this committee. Also the teacher should have some- 
thing to tell if no one of the pupils happens to get the same event. 

4. General topics given by the teacher or some older pupils 
from maps or charts prepared for the occasion. I recall a very in- 
teresting talk given by a high school boy on water power of Ni- 
agara and illustrated by sensible maps and charts that he had pre- 
pared for this special occasion. Papers and magazines are full of 
material for such talks and the only thing needed is a teacher 
with ingenuity and energy to make it help in the opening of the 
school day, 

5. Committing extracts and quotations from our best au- 
thors and rehearsing them is another means of varying the open 
ing exercises. Eight to ten lines per week will give a good start 
in a term, but more than this is done in many schools. Several 
grammar grades the past year where opportunities were not bet ■ 
ter than in most schools for such work committed within the 
year as entire schools from seven hundred to one thousand lines. 
Besides this, classes and individuals did other work of the kind 
The way is here, it is the will that is needed. 

6. Rapid drills on the fundamental operations in arithmetic 
can sometimes be used to give spice to the exercises, and if the 
teacher will put the energy into it to do the work more rapidly 
than any of the pupils it will not be an uninteresting morning 
when this is the program. The common tables of denominate 
numbers can be made so permanent that they will never leave the 
memory. The arithmetic can furnish a great deal if rightly used 

7. Lists of important dates may be wisely utilized and the 
foolish superstition that too many, even among teachers, have, 
that to remember history is not possible because they "never 
could remember dates," may thus be trained out of pupils before 



180 lOAVA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

they realize what they are doing. Of course the event giving the 
date importance should be associated with its proper date. Dates 
may thus be suggested for pupils to give the event and the re- 
verse. Groups of important statesmen, authors, and other great 
names could be made familiar in this manner. Recently in a 
teachers' examination the requirement in one of the questions 
was to name three favorite poets and one named McKinley 
Dewey, and Hobson. It would seem that there should be some 
time given to prominent characters in our schools when candi- 
dates for the teachers' ranks make such guesses. 

8. At the present time there is an eflfort, and it is worth) 
the attention of progressive teachers, to give some attention to 
the works of our greatest artists. The material for sketches of 
the lives and the work of the great masters is found in the better 
school journals and in cheap but reliable form in books for sale 
by firms handling teachers' supplies. An interesting talk by the 
teachers on the life of an artist and a display of some of his pic- 
tures, as reproduced by the many companies furnishing such ex- 
cellent cheap copies, can be made a useful topic for an opening 
exercise occasionally. 

9. Another drill of great value is the presentation of a few 
words of difficult spelling, pictures, lines, plane figures on the 
board or chart exposing them for a very brief time that con- 
centration of attention may be secured. After the things ex- 
posed have been covered the school may attempt to spell the 
words, draw the figures or write names. Objects may be used 
for the same purpose. The object in such an exercise is not espe- 
cially the learning that may be done by the pupils, but the bet- 
ter training in ability to hold the attention closely and intensely 
on one thing at a time. If more time were given to such training 
there would be less wandering of the pupils' attention when they 
try to study. Try it. 

10. Of course it is understood that music forms a good 
means for a part of the opening exercises. When music is not 
regularly taught some ideas of the technical side may be given 
occasionally if done in an interesting way. Let the pupils sing 
and memorize good songs, and do not kill the interest in the 
music by trying to make every pupil sing. If a pupil cannot sing. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 131 

he should pay attention, however. Some stories about the early 
life and experiences of familiar composers would be well receivel 
by pupils. 

IV. 

Reading and References. 

io8.— THE TEACHER'S READING. 

Teachers should be thoughtful readers. There is no better 
general rule than the familiar and oft quoted one of Bacon's, 
"Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for 
granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and con- 
sider." As to what one should read in this age of many books 
it is not so easy to decide. It is not easy either to get a great 
deal of helpful advice, for the person advising knows that the 
books he may suggest are likely not to fit well in the mental 
habits and experiences of his questioner. There are some gen- 
eral thoughts, however, that one may venture to give on the sub- 
ject of reading cind references, i. One should own most of the 
really valuable books that he reads. The feeling of ownership 
makes the book a closer companion. It is always at hand and 
among the most valuable time that one spends in readmg is the 
few minutes that may be designated as the odd-moments, sea- 
sons when he picks up a favorite book and re-reads a thought or 
gets a brief view of the land ahead in the author's treatment of 
the subject. The majority of people must do most of their read- 
ing in these odd-moment periods, and ihus need to have the 
book conveniently near. Many books should be read con- 
secutively even though little is read at a time. Some may be 
read by special chapters from table of contents and index because 
of the use one can make of the matter at once. This is very 
profitable reading. A second great reason why one should own 
the books he reads is that he may mark the things in them that 
are best for him. Marking the book is more helpful for the time 
spent on it than note making, and the suggestion is then always 
at hand and not in a misplaced note book when one wants it. 
A very effective means of marking is to underscore in blue pencil 
the passage that seems best. A book read and marked in this 



wav is imioh nunc valuable ihan oiio that luusi ho votunuHl to a 
library miniarkcd. It can ho rc-road by roatlini;- marked pass- 
ages. Also in second reading the same hook may be marked 
with a red pencil showing the additional thoughts that seem im- 
pressive from this closer acquaintance. Each re-reading of book 
or chapter should indicate some change in the reader by the 
marks that are left in the book. J. Watch tor the revised edi- 
tions when purchasing books. These may not always be im- 
provements over llio former edition, but the author has found 
some things that lio ihinks are better and it is quite probable that 
the revision makes the book more valuable. The date of copy- 
right or the date afVixed to the note iliscussing the revision should 
he noticed rather than the publisher's date on the title page. 
Webster's dictionary sold by cheap stores and street fakirs may bo 
published verv recently and still bo of the edit'on of 1847. Books 
made cheap in that \va\ are worthless. 3. All, or nearly all, of one's 
readiiig should have some thought in it that is applicable to 
some phase of his daily life. Looking for these thoughts and 
seeing when they fit is a very profitable side to his reading. He 
should not talk to others a great deal about things he thinks he 
sees in certain books if they are liable to discourage him by in- 
sisting that he is reading too much between the lines or reading 
into sentences what is not there. It is a dangerous thing, it is 
true, to read one's prejudices into a book. On the other hand 
a really good book is valuable nuich oftener for what it suggests 
to the reader than it is in the cold facts that it gives him. Get 
the author's meaning, but let that grow larger in you by its sug- 
gestiveness. In this connection it may be said that books are 
jxidges of readers far oftener than readers are accurate judges of 
books. When a reader lays aside a classic or a strong treatise 
and says it has nothing for him the criticism if any is to bo made 
at all. is a criticism of the reader and not of the hook. 

TOO.— REFERENCE BOOKS. 

I. In various places throughout this pamphlet references 
are named because they will bo helpful with special features of 
the work. In no cases are those references considered exhaus- 
tive in scope. Many others on some of the same topics couUl be 



IOWA K'lA'IK NOItMAI. KCIIOOL. | J^3 

named. Excellent collections of books are named in different 
publications so that little space will be given here to lists of mis- 
cellaneous books. Teachers should procure and consult fre- 
quently the list of books selected under the new library law by 
the state board of examiners and publislied by the State Educa- 
tional Department, at Des Moines. 

Firms issuing books send excellent descriptive catalogs 
which give much information, and these should be procured and 
preserved. Whenever one is teaching where there is access to a 
library the opportunity to use it should not be neglected. In 
geography, reading, history and literature more or less use can 
be made of such works as Stoddard's Illustrated Lectures, Earth 
and Its Inhabitants, Baedeker's Guides, Statesman's Year Book 
and others of the class. Most of these are not within the reach 
of teachers to purchase, but are suggested as one class of books 
of which not enough use is made by teachers who may have ac- 
cess to them. It would not be a wise use of space here to try to 
name books on academic subjects in general, but a few dealing 
with special sides of the teacher's work are given as suggestive 
from which teachers may profitably select and read. 

Art of Questioning — Landon. 

School Management — White. 

Theory and Practice of Teaching — Page. 

Talks to Teachers on Psychology — James. 

Mistakes in Teaching — Hughes. 

I low to Secure and Retain Attention — Hughes. 

How to Keep Order — Hughes. 

Dickens as an Educator — Hughes. 

Art of Securing Attention — Fitch. 

Waymarks for Teachers — Arnold. 

Reading; How to Teach It — Arnold. 

How to Teach Reading in Public Schools — Clark. 

A Study of the Child— Taylor. 

Nature Study — Jackman. 

Leonard and Gertrude — Pestalozzi. 

Educational Reformers — Quick. 

On Stimulus in School — Sedgwick. 

Unconscious Tuition — Huntington. 



184 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

The Story of the Mind — Baldwin. 

Practical Hints for Teachers — Rowland. 

Apperception — Rooper. 

Point of Contact in Teaching — DuBois. 

Apperception — Lange. 

Talks on Pedagogics — Parker. 

Teaching and Teachers — Trumbull. 

The School Master in Literature — 

Jukes-Edwards — Winship. 

Art of Study — Hinsdale. 

Method in Education — Roark. 

Philosophy of Teaching — Tompkins. 

Thinking and Learning to Think — Schaefifer, 

Education — Spencer. 

Self-Culture — James Freeman Clarke. 

Art of Illustration — Spurgeon. 

The Blackboard in Sunday School — Bailey. 

Illustrative Blackboard Sketching — Hintz. 

Easy Things to Draw — Augsburg. 

Easy Drawings for the Geography Class — Augsburg. 

Chalk ModeHng — Hefifron. 

Tracing and Sketching — Gillan. 

Geography by Map Drawing — Kellogg. 

Picture Study in Elemenatry Schools — Wilson. 

How to Enjoy Pictures — Emery. 

Biographies of Great Artists — Educational Pub. Co. 

Turning Points in Great Careers — Thayer. 
Men of Business — Stoddard. 
Pushing to the Front — Marden. 
Getting on in the World — Mathews. 
Some collection of good stories. 
A collection of anecdotes. 

General Method — McMurry. 

Method of the Recitation — McMurry. 

Special Method in Reading — McMurry. 

Special Method in History and Literature — McMurry. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 185 

Special Method in Science — McMurry. 
Special Method in Geography — McMurry. 
Essentials of Methods — DeGarmo. 
Herbart and the Herbartians-r-De Garmo. 
Ufer's Pedagogy of Herbart — DeGarmo. 

The group of books beginning with Art of Illustration by 
Spurgeon and closing with Biographies of Great Artists, deals 
with the questions of illustration and art. The first one is a 
series of lectures given by the great preacher on the question of 
principles of illustration. It is very readable and equally valuable 
if studied properly. The titles of the others suggest their nature 
as dealing with graphic illustration, a feature that all teachers 
should study. The later books mentioned are to help the teacher 
and pupil from the other side in cultivation of ability to see beau- 
ty, reality, and principles of illustration from study of standard 
works of art. This professional study should not be allowed to 
monopolize the attention so that the art and beauty are neglect- 
ed. Pictures should be studied more. 

The hst following may seem a strange collection to recom- 
mend for teachers, but it is suggestive of a valuable line of read- 
ing that teachers should follow. It need not be these particular 
books. Others of the kind, and the book-stores are well sup- 
pHed with them, are just as good and some may be better. There 
is a picturing of life in such books that helps one to get higher 
and better ideals and that supplies many a good illustration and 
story to arouse better ideals in pupils. Biographies and anec- 
dotes are almost professional lines of study for teachers 

The last group beginning with General Method gives a brief 
list of books that have exerted a decided influence in clearing 
the minds of teachers as to the actual movements of the pupil's 
mind in learning, and the consequent method followed by the 
teacher in teaching. These books have done more, probably, 
than any other one similar group that can be found to arouse 
thought on the part of teachers as to the actual operations in 
the recitation period. They should be studied, marked, and 
every suggestion compared by the teacher with the actual work 
she is doing in her classroom. If the teacher will industriously 



186 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

try to see how she is applying the steps of instruction, how they 
conform to the demands of the learning mind, she can not fail 
to be benefited by the study of these books. It is not the inten- 
tion here to set these out above all other books by this special 
mention, but since they are so adapted as a group to a particular 
need of so many teachers, if teachers will study them and try 
properly to apply the suggestions, it seems admissible to make 
this special mention. Every book in the entire list and innum- 
erable other ones, are very valuable for teachers, and the admo- 
nition we wish to give is, that every teacher study and try to make 
application of the help that may be obtained from such books. 
At least a little should be read each day. Read, think, apply and 
grow. 

I V. 

Reviews. 

no.— NECESSITY AND TIME FOR THEM. 

Repetition is very necessary in making lastmg impression and 
close associations. Because of this there is a place for specific 
reviews in school work. The old way of reviewing at stated times, 
once a month, or twice a term, is probably not the best way of 
determining the time for these reviews. Especially is that plan 
bad when it leads up to an examination. It encourages cram- 
ming at the last and leads the pupil to think he may slight his 
daily work because it will be reviewed any way before examina- 
tion. In teaching, every effort should be made to avoid giving the 
impression that some things may be slighted because the subject 
is to be reviewed any way. These reviews should be governed 
by the condition of the work rather than by time periods. When 
a large unit or division of the subject has been covered it may b^ 
well then to pause for a general survey of the ground that has 
been covered. This may come any day of the week and any week 
of the term. 

III.— THE NATURE OF REVIEWS. 

They should be new views instead of mere repetition of ideas 
as they appeared to the mind the first time they were met. The 
early ideas of the subject should now stand out before the pupil's 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 187 

mind in a clearer and more definite view because of the develop- 
tnent he has received from the later study. They should result 
in a general comparison, sifting, classifying and readjusting of 
the contents of the mind. In the daily lessons there have been 
efforts at elaboration, or working out conclusions, by compari- 
sons and contrasts or deeper views of former and newly present- 
ed notions. These should result in careful statements of general 
truths that are derived from this act of elaboration. In the re- 
view the general truths, definitions, principles, and rules are to 
be regarded more than the individual facts from which ihey were 
derived. Daily work develops general truths, reviews seek more 
to relate them in the larger body that makes up the entire sub- 
ject. Reviews seek principles and show both pupil and teacher 
where the weakness is if these principles cannot be recalled and 
applied. The review partakes of the nature of comparisons, con- 
trasts or working over of daily generalizations into larger general 
truths, and then the broader application of these larger rules and 
principles in the larger field where they may properly belong. 
They are summaries of the broader principles that have been de- 
veloped from week to week. 

112.— ASSIGNING AND CONDUCTING. 

The assignment of review lessons is an exercise of peculiar 
importance. It cannot be done hastily and by pages of text 
alone. Definite tasks must be marked out for pupils to accom- 
plish. These should be of such nature that he must do some 
thinking for himself. A hasty conning of pages of the text 
studied in past weeks is not sufficient efltort to be dignified as a 
review. There probably should be Httle new matter, and possibly 
none at all suggested for the investigation, but the questions and 
directions given at assignment should be such as to require him 
to approach each topic and work out his answers in a different 
way than the one taken when he studied it for the first time. In 
making assignments of reviews, tables of contents, topicals, out- 
lines, and the index of the book should be freely used. When 
the class appears for recitation questions may be given out, topics 
assigned, drawings required, models and diagrams put before the 
class as each one's part in gathering up the results of the work. 



138 IOWA STATE NOUMAL SCHOOL. 

A part of each review should be written and much should be oral. 
It is not possible to be too particular that pupils shah express 
themselves definitely and clearly, and that definitions, principles 
and rules shall be carefully carried in mind and stated accurately. 
In fact, the review should just add here another operation to what 
is daily done in having pupils talk from what ihey foiozv and not 
from what they tJii)ik, excepting when it is a question of opinion 
of a conclusion from their own judgment and reasoning. Some 
reviews should come when not expected. There is no better ex- 
ercise, for the mind in making it ready for the daily incidents and 
surprises of life than taking it when oflf guard and letting the 
pupil see what he can do and when he is most at the mercy of 
circumstances. These unexpected reviews lead to a command of 
one's powers and a readiness in calling up desired knowledge that 
are valuable qualifications in the stern affairs of daily life. They 
should have something to do in preparmg a person to meet re- 
sponsibilities without becoming "so scared he couldn't think." 
No time need be lost if the class exercise is finished before the 
time has expired (a thing that rarely occurs with a teacher that 
is full of the subject and a class that is interested) for that is a 
good opportunity to give some of these unexpected reviews. 
\\niat the teacher does with these occasional odd moments has 
much to do in showing her power as a teacher. In the history 
and reading classes geographical reviews should be coming up 
constantly, and it is equally valuable when studying a region to 
have facts from history and the reading that may belong with 
that region stated briefly and quickly. If pupils do not know 
these facts this is probably not the place to turn aside to do a 
great deal of teaching of the other subject, but even then a men- 
tion could be made of the facts with the suggestion that we shall 
have them fully discussed in the history or reading class. Prin- 
ciples of arithmetic should constantly be coming up in the alge- 
bra class. The concrete problem writing of the pupil in the arith- 
metic class should get its materials from the other subjects 
studied. It is hardly necessary to suggest that there should be 
no definite and set way by which every review is conducted. 
Sometimes it may be by questions, sometimes by materials sug~ 
gested from which models embodying pupils' ideas are to be 



IOWA STATIO NORMAL SCHOOL. 189 

made — modeling relief of a region as a pupil's review of these 
points is an example. The best and most essential reviews of 
all, however, are those that are made daily in preparing 
the pupil's mind for the advance work and the rehear- 
sal of those facts with the new ones in the process of elab- 
oration or comparison and generalization, and in appli- 
cation. Finally, it is urged, that each day's teaching 
should be done as though the topic was being handled for the 
last time. This does not mean the making of senseless and un- 
interesting repetitions of the same thing in the same way, and 
sometimes called "drill," but it means rather the working over, 
summarizing and clearly stating the principles learned until they 
will form such definite associations that they may be well fixed 
by the proper application and are ready as preparatory matter 
for advance work. Fellow teachers see if you are not lo^;ing time 
daily and wasting time in stated reviews because things were not 
well organized and fixed in the pupil's mind when you taught him 
the facts the first time. 

VL 

Becoming a Teacher. 

113.— BEFORE THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. 

I. Qualifications that the person must have as required by 
law for the protection of the interests of the children do not seem 
usually to be as high as they should. These qualifications are 
loosely stated as intellectual, age, and moral. Certain intellec- 
tual development is demanded and to attain this and the moral 
standard of judgment, habits of right action, and ideals necessary 
to make one a safe leader of children necessitates some years of 
growth which it is assumed are reached at the minimum age at 
which one legally may become a teacher. 2. Since these quali- 
fications must be found in the would-be teacher there must be 
some power for determining when they are attained. School 
law has vested this examining power in tne county superin- 
tendent. Back of him stands the state and he is merely its agent 
to do what the law requires. He is often foolishly blamed and 
unjustly abused for doing what the law requires of him in ac- 



J 90 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

cordance with his conscience and oath of office. On the other 
hand he is the legal supervisor of the schools and school inter- 
ests, and it seems too bad that so much of his time should be 
taken up with the clerical work of the office that this very im- 
portant part of his work frequently must be neglected and 
schools thus be less efficient than they might otherwise be. 
3. After the aspirant for teacher's honors has met the legal 
tests the next step is to secure the school. In this there is a legal 
side in seeing members of board, securing election, and signing 
contract. The most essential things to which the candidate's 
attention should be called are those that have a bearing on con- 
vincing the board of his fitness for the place he seeks. The cer- 
tificate is the legal recommendation of the superintendent that 
the person is qualified so far as his tests can show. One or two 
testimonials from other well known persons may be useful. The 
practice of going about with a pocket full of "to-whom it-may- 
concern" statements should be discouraged. If one grows he 
should soon outgrow the statements that the maker ought at 
first to dare to write, and if he does not grow he should not be 
carrying about a list of papers that on the face of them give more 
credit than he deserves. Sometimes a teacher is recommended 
in this indefinite way with the understanding that he is a can- 
didate for some particular school, and later the same paper is 
used when trying to secure a position for which the writer would 
fear to recommend him. This is unfair to all concerned. One 
should protect his friends by not asking for these general state- 
ments. There is another side to the matter of securing the favor 
of school officers that is in great measure within the hands of the 
teacher. This has reference to the tact, judgment, manner, and 
general appearance of the candidate when making application. 
A modest but frank and positive manner carries weight. Proper 
dress, good lang^iage, recognition of human nature in seeing how 
to approach a stranger, and similar qualifications are very essen- 
tial. These are things in which one may improve if he tries to be 
observing and thoughtful. 4. \Mien he receives his contract and 
the key to the school house is given him there are still many 
things to do. He should know before the day for school to open 
ii: what condition the house is to be found. Heating, ventila- 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 191 

tion, necessary apparatus should be understood. If in the coun- 
try and he is to do janitor work he should see that the house is 
swept and dusted. Condition of grounds, and well or other ac- 
commodations for securing water should be noted and any thing 
that can reasonably be done should be done to make everything 
ready for the first morning. Within the school house the teach- 
er's desk should be looked over and the contents examined, as a 
n:eans of knowing just what may be at hand that may be useful. 
All apparatus and books should be put in order so as to be ready 
for the use of pupils and teacher when needed. The register left 
in the district by the previous teacher should be obtained. From 
Ihis the names and classification of pupils may be learned. From 
the program left by the previous teacher a temporary program 
fot the first few days should be made out. It would be a kind 
thing for the retiring teacher to suggest what changes in the pro- 
gram he leaves would in his judgment best adapt it to the open- 
ing of the next term. Also each teacher on leaving a school 
might leave in the desk or register a plat of the room showing the 
seating as he had it. Suggestions as to any changes that he 
would ihink advisable would be in order here too. If no plat 1 ; 
left the teacher about to take charge should make one and hav; 
it ready to put names of pupils on it as they are seated the first 
day as a means of learning names and characteristics more quick 
ly. Tt would likewise be a kind thing for the teacher at the close 
of the term to suggest to the pupils that they should take hold 
earnestly with the new teacher and not quote the ways of past 
teachers lo him. Another thing that should be determined befoie 
the first day is tbs lessons that will be assigned the first morning 
By borrowing or purchasing the teacher should have access to 
the boo^s that are used and settle in his own mind the lessons 
he will assign at the opening of school the first morning. The: 
better his preparation is for these a^?ignmenth and for teaching 
the same lessons the more hope there is for his ultimate success. 

114.— THE FIRST DAY. 

It is an nnportant hour in the life of any young person when 
he as teach-^r calls school for the first t.'me. His success for the 
entire term in great measure depends on the outcome of the next 



292 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

few hours. If he can start well and have every thing going in 
a few minutes now he is sure of the co-operation of most of his 
pupils from the outset. Hesitancy, uncertainty, and delays are 
very dangerous just at this time. A few brief admonitions are 
g.'ven for the benefit of the young teacher. Be calm. Make no 
set speech. Say very little and make that little effective by going 
to the point and speaking so that you may readily be understood. 
Unless there has been some definite custom as to opening exer- 
cises, or you are exceptionally sure of your own powers, have no 
definite opening exercises the first morning, but proceed at once 
to get the school to work. There will be a moment of expectancy 
when all will be quiet. That is the teacher's time to make his 
beginning. If pupils are old enough and there are enough pres- 
ent to make it worth while, slips of paper may be passed to get 
the names and ages of pupils. Extra pencils should be in the 
hands of the teacher to supply the boy and girl that will be likely 
to be without pencils. The teacher should manage to have pu- 
pils help in passing these things so that he may remain quietly 
at the front of the room to direct. In smal' schools or with 
small children the taking of names may best be done at the first 
recitation. Whatever may be done in this respect assignments of 
work ought to be promptly made. It is pardonable here to make 
assignments quickly and not go into detail as in ordinary class 
work, for so many are waiting that not much time can be given to 
each class. In an ungraded school the larger ones should be 
given assignments and starte'd at their studying, and then more 
time may be given to those just starting. All should be at work 
as soon as possible. The temporary program should be followed 
and recitations taken up promptly. The teacher that goes 
through the first half day well has made a good beginning, and 
by keeping eyes and ears open and mind alert should make the 
term's work a success. 

VII. 

View of Past Year's Work. 

115.— GRAMMAR GRADES. 

The statement of the arithmetic work in the pages given to 
that subject in this outline has connected with it some sugges- 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 193 

tions on the teeaching of that branch and teachers may make 
use if it for that purpose as well as to see what the classes have 
done in the past. In other subjects the outline of work covered 
is given in the briefest possible form and still have it intelligible 
as a guide indicating about what amount of space given classes 
should be able to compass within a certain time. The outline is 
in no sense put forth as a permanent course of study. It is mere- 
ly a suggestive guide to practicians in their efforts to detenmne 
what would be a reasonable am.ount ot work for the classes that 
come under their charge. For the purpose of better unification 
or closer correlation whatever change may seem best w'U be 
made at any time. 

Arithmetic. 

FIFTH GRADE— FIRST TERM. 
Work based upon Werner Arithmetic, Book I., pages 40 to 

154. 

The following topics are treated this term m somewhat 

spiral arrangement. The fundamental operations with simple 
whole numbers of former grade receive attention. Very much 
of the work is to be done orally with the pencil as an aid only 
where largest numbers are used. This is the nature of the work 
all through the coming terms, thus keeping the idea that written 
arithmetic is not something apart in nature frosn mental or oral, 
but simply a stage of the latter whe.-e the pencil becomes an in- 
strument in manipulating numbers tco large to be conveniently 
managed by the other process. From the first the pupil in ail 
his work should frequently be held to the three steps in full: 
telling the meaning of the indicated combinations before him, 
performing the operations suggested by this meaning and mak- 
ing a concrete problem embracing the same conditions as those 
with which he has just been engaged. This should be kept u() m 
all the work with other operations besides those dealing with the 
simple numbers alone. Numbers up to one thousand may ap- 
pear, but most of the work is done with smaller numbers since 
teaching principles and developing skih can be more readily 
done by use of quantities more nearly within the grasp of the un- 
derstanding of the child. 



194 IOWA STATK NORMAL SCHOOL. 

Fractions. 

These are studied under all the operations of addition, sub- 
traction, multiplication and division. Fractions with denomina- 
tors running up to twelve are used. Relations of half, ihrd, 
fourth, sixth to twelfths are discovered and employed in ai)pli- 
cations to problems. When necessary concrete illustrations 
may be given by use of objects or drawings, but it should not 
be in demand very long at a time with pupils of this grade. See 
that the work is made so simple and easy by a liberal supply of 
supplementary work that the child is prevented from getting a 
superstition that there is any thing especially difficult in :be 
operations having fractions in them. 

Denominate Numbers. 

Continuation of work of former grades. Time-seconds, 
minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years. Square measure, 
square feet, square yards. Dry measur^^ — quar-.s, pecks, bushels. 
United States money. Denominations of these treated through 
the processes of addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Much 
drill in oral problems. 

Measurements. 

Length for short distances. Shapes of triangle, square, ob- 
long, pentagon with special reference to meaning of terms peri- 
meter and area. Much drill in finding areas of surfaces easily 
imaged without m.aterial surfaces at hand more than for a mere 
starting point. Special attention to the fact that there can be 
no product in such expressions as follows: 3 mches multliplied 
by 2 inches. All such use of concrete multiplier should be pre- 
vented from the start. This is one of the places to begin laying 
the foundation for the principles of multiplicaiion that the pupil 
may thus be led to see for himself as he advances further. 

Decimals. 

The work in decimals starts with tenths as soon as this de- 
nominator is reached in the treatment of common fractions, and 
both ways of writing tenths are taught at the same time. Mi:."ed 
decimals with tenths, (3.2), read in the two ways, "three and two 
tenths, or thirty-two tenths." This should be kept continually 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. ]^g5 

in view. All the fundamental operations performed upon the 
numbers embracing decimal tenths just as with other numbers 
Treating the decimal here as a form of concrete number without 
perplexing the pupil with the term, concrete, will prevent much 
difficulty later. 

In connection with the work in all these lines there is room 
for much drill in rapid addition and the other fundamental oper- 
ations. A little time taken for drill each day is better than tak- 
ing a whole period for it at stated times. li should be remem- 
bered that by this spiral arrangement the pupil does not work so 
many weeks at the first of the term on simple numbers and then 
a corresponding length of time on the others in other parts of 
the term but within ten or twelve days he passes through all 
the kinds of work and then takes up a new circle again. This 
arrangement gives variety, keeps the processes unified, and 
makes use of all the development gained in one unit in the next. 
New views are constantly biung given in this way, but they are 
really reviews since the kind of work is the same as taken a 
short time before, but a few new points are added and the prob- 
lems and exercises are fresh and new. With plenty of supple- 
mentary drills this plan gives good results. Teachers should be 
careful to read the author's suggestions at the beginning and 
all the notes and directions on the pages wherever any are given. 

SECOND TERM. 

Same book continued and finished. 

Simple Numbers. 

Numbers up to ten thousand. Smaller numbers in all the 
fundamental operations. Much oral work and plenty of supple- 
mentary material given. Definitions of the terms used in the 
proceess of the fundamental operations learned through 
illustration and application in problems. These applica- 
tions are to be made so carefully that no errors in 
use of principles to be discovered and fully learned later 
shall have been made. In fact, this is the time for lead- 
ing the pupil to see principles through his constantly doing 
a thing in the same way. These principles may be formulated 
and committed a little later. 



196 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

Common Fractions. 

Fnndamental operations on fractions and mixed numbers 
continued. In division reduction to common denominator is em- 
ployed rather than inverting the divisor. The work is so planned 
that the pupil will readily discover the shorter method of invert- 
ing the divisor for himself if properly led. Denominators treated 
as in the past work as of the nature to make operations similar 
to treatment of simple concrete numbers 

Decimals. 

Treatment the same as in previous term excepting that the 
number of decmial places is increased ro hundredths. 

Co-ordinate with Decimals and ^leasurements. Former 
term's work continued and made more complete by use of new 
matter of similar nature to that of previous lessons. In addition 
the table of weight is given and fixed in mind by use in exercises 
similar to former operations. 

Measurements. 
Square foot, square yard, cubic measure in simple form 
with much drill material. Dra\\ang and use of objects is allow- 
able until new forms are understood, then the imaging power of 
the pupil should supply the picture of the thing named instead 
of calling for constant use of the material object. 

Ratio and Proportion. 
By use of materials familiar from past work the nature of 
these new processes is made clear. Pupils read and answer orally 
many problems of this kind: "If 25c pays for 7 lemons, 50c 

pays for ." The work under this head is given in 

great variety and leads easily to the solution of problems of this 
nature: "Two-thirds of a certain number is 6. \Miat is the 
number?" By care here the child may be led to see relations in 
such a manner that the long process of analysis may be avoided. 
Repetitions of simple teaching exercises that train the mind in 
sensible forms of analysis instead of complex forms of figure 
juggling are what are needed. Xot explanation but a new start 
from past work already familiar thus leading the pupil to find 
his own weakness and see the remedy should be the teacher's 

rule. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 197 

Conclusion. 

At the close the definitions and tables that have been illus- 
trated, learned and applied are to be reviewed. These should 
be stated in clear, exact language as a summary of the two 
term's work. This summary is likewise to prepare for tli€ ad- 
vance in which old ideas in more difficult applications will ap- 
pear and new ideas will be introduced. 

THIRD TERM. 

Werner, Book II., pp. 11-71. 

Simple Numbers. 

The new terms introduced and taught orally through illus- 
tration of their meanings are distributed over the term's work- 
as they are needed to make proper headway n. the other divis- 
ions of the subject. These terms are, divisors, prime and com- 
posite numbers, factor, prime factor, multiple, common multiple, 
least common multiple. 

Common Fractions. 

Common denominator, terms, reduce co lowest terms, re- 
duce to whole or mixed number, improper fraction are the new 
ideas to be learned. If the author's notes are carefully followed 
and the work done as thoroughly as suggested much trouble 
may be avoided in later work. 

Decimals. 

The decimal thousandths now appear. Mixed decimals to be 
read carefully in the two ways, with and without the use of the 
word "and." Relation of decimals and our money system. 
Tenths, hundredths and the like of simple numbers shown by 
pointing off the proper number of places from the right. One 
tenth found thus then two tenths by multiplying this result by 
two and by a continuation- of the process the pupil may see the 
reason for pointing in the product and in time sees the rule for 
indicating the combined number of decimal places in the product. 
Division of decimals as in previous work treated as division of 
concrete numbers. 



1*)S lOM'A STATK NlMiMAl, SCHOOL 

Denominate Xunibers. 

The ton. pounds in the bushel of eonnuon strain, gross 
weight, net weight, tare, long measure. These new terms taught 
and applied along with all the previous denominate muubers 
laugJit. 

Measurements. 

Cubic inch, inch cube, cubic foot, foot cui^e carefully taught. 
\arious angles learned. Rectangular solids, wood measure. 
Square rod staked off in school yard and terms made plain. 

Ratio and Proportion. 

This is kept up as in the past tenn extending it to the new 
fractions and denominate numbers learned. 

Peroentage. 

In the work in decimals the pupil has become very familiar 
with the manipulations of hundredths. He now makes use of 
this knowledge in the special operations known as percentage. 
The equivalent expressions of the decimal hundredth, the com- 
mon fraction, and the number followed by the per cent, sign 
are taught side by side from the first. Fifty per cent, equals 
.50 equals -J. All the equivalents for the common aliquot parts 
of a hundred are made a matter of drill for th.e class. Also the 
three operations are presented simultaneously. 50 per cent, of 
10 equals . 10 is 50 per cent, of 5 is of 10. 

Conclusion. 

The number story or concrete problem should frequently ap- 
pear in the work and pupils should be required to state the mean- 
ing of the operations they expect to perform before attempting 
the solution of the problem. The teacher should see that she 
gets into the true spirit of the work by studying the ground 
pre^^ously covered by the class. Also every suggestion should 
be tested by the ever recurring question: "Why should this be 
done in this way?" This question is not that of the critic, but 
that of the learner searching for the reason lor the effort he is 
advised to make. It should never bo forgotten that rapidity 
and accuracy are the fundamentals of .good teaching of arithme- 
tic. Without accuracy the wc>rk is of no consequence. The 



IOWA H'J'ATI-; NOIIMAL H(JirO(;l>. JQQ 

biisiness world and the moral world demand that the pupils' 
efforts shall be accurate in fact as well as based upon the right 
principles. 

Arithmetic. 
SIXTH GRADE— FIRST TERM. 
Werner, Book II., pages 71-121. 

Simple Numbers. 

Average to be found when cost of several articles is given 
and the meaning of terms understood. Creanii^ry accounts, time 
book of day laborer, receipts from ticket sales at county fair and 
similar matter to furnish the material with which the opera- 
tions are performed. 

Fractions. 

Continuation of former work seeing that meaning of every 
exercise is perfectly clear. 

Decimals. 

The critical stage in the multiplication and division of deci- 
mals. The author makes suggestions that should be carefully put 
into practice. 

Denominate Numbers. 

Table for measuring quantity of paper. How grocer's bills 
are made, gross, hundred weight and the abbreviation for this 
taught. 

Measurements, Ratio, and Proportion, Ptrcentage, the work 
is very similar to that of the previous term in the fifth grade. 
It should be noticed that the materials used m one department 
of the subject may furnish starting points for work in several 
of the others. Relations of certain quantities in denominate 
numbers will be convenient teaching material for ratio and pro- 
portion and likewise in percentage. In this way the ideas of 
previous work may be kept well in mind without the dullness 
to result from using the same operation all the time on one kind 
of matter. Accuracy should be required in all operations. Ra- 
pidity is good and necessary, but rapidity without accuracy is all 
a waste of time, even though the time taken in performing an 
exercise is short. 



^200 IOWA STATKNOKMAL SOllOt)!.. 

SECOND TERM. 

Book same as in previous term. Pages 121-171. 
Simple Numbers, Common Fractions, Decimals. Do not 
fail to follow the author's suggestions. 

Denominate Numbers. 

The manipulation of dates in finding the difference in time 
between two dates is introduced and it should be clearly taught, 
just here is where one of the difficulties that confront pupils in 
calculating interest should be forever settled. Much of the 
trouble in finding interest in the later work will come from the 
inability of the pupil to find the time accurately when the dates 
are given for him to perform that operation. The mistake is not 
one that should be charged to the difficulties of interest, but 
rather should be seen to be one in his management of denominate 
numbers. In this term the Metric System is introduced and it 
should be presented through that common metric unit, the me- 
ter, from the first. This system should be taught as a system of 
measiu-es just as real as our own cumbersome system and not 
compared with the common measures. Let it be learned for its 
own value. Pupils can image a meter as easily as a yard. If pre- 
sented in the proper way it is seen to be simple and so readily 
learned that pupils enjoy handling the numbers in this system 
better than on the common denominate number scales. Start 
from the meter and see that it is properly seen and then the di- 
visions and the superstition that this is a particularly difficult 
system will vanish. 

Aleasuroments. 

Comparisons of areas and lumber measurements form the 
line of work in this topic. The practical method of basing oper- 
ations in computation of lumber bills upon the twelve-foot board 
is employed and the teacher should see that the notes and sug- 
gestions in the book are fully understood and used. 

Ratio and Proportion. 

Definition of ratio now taught. Terms, antecedent, conse- 
quent, illustrated and learned. Material for operations found 
in other divisions. 



IOWA 8TATK NORMAL KOlIOOl,. 201 

Percentage. 

Same as last term in nature but advanced witli new ma- 
terial and a little more difficult problems to solve. Operations 
in commission are introduced. 

The arrangement of the work is such th^t review is almost 

Reviews. 

The arrangement of the work is such that review is almost 
inevitable, but in order that the pupil may have practical drill 
in finding for himself the meaning of problems and the ptinci- 
ples applied in their solution he is given at the end of each 
ten-page unit an arrangement of miscellaneous work. The 
teacher should be careful to make all the use of this that is pos- 
sible and sometimes extra matter may be added as it seems to 
be needed. This new matter can be selected and graded by the 
teacher so as to reach the particular difficulties of individuals, 
and thus lead them to find the way over the difficulty without 
the aid of others. 

THIRD TERM. 

Book same as in previous term. Pages 171 to 221. 

Simple Numbers. 

Common multiples and the factors that they must contain 
from each number. Prime factors. Least common multiple of 
numbers prime to each other. Drills. 

Fractions. 

Least common denominator. Past operations continued. 
Drill work. 

Decimals. 

As in the past. Decimals to millionths written and read 
c(uickly and accurately. 

Denominate Numbers. 

Metric system continued. Still presented as distinctly a sys- 
tem by itself without comparisons with the common system of 
denominate numbers. Meaning and use of specific gravity 
taught. 



•J02 unvA si'ATK NinniAi, school. 

^leasurcmeiits. 

Practioal method contimiod. Rules discovered by pupils. 
Meanings of such tern^s as stock boards, fencing-, dimension 
srutT. scantHng. and titnbers made clear. 

Ratio and Proportion. 

Relation to fractions sho\vn. Couplet, proportion detined. 
L'ubic foot and gallon compared. 

Percentage. 

Loss and gain and on what reckoned. Connnercial dis- 
count. Interest introduced. 

Reviews and miscellaneous exercises given as in past terms. 

Seventh Grade. 

Werner, Book 11. Pages 221 to close. 

Simple Numbers. 

Short methods of simple operations. Square as appHed to 
numbers. Square root introduced. 

Fractions. 

Simple, complex, compound illustrated and detined. Square 
root of fractions taught. 

Decimals. 

Common fractions and lower denomination of denominate 
numbers changed to decimal forms. Follow the suggestions of 
the author very carefully. 

Denominate Numbers. 

Work based upon the practical experiences of the business 
of the comnuinitv. Reductions treated. 

Measurements. 

Applications of former principles through problems. Streets 
and city blocks. Section of land. The township and numbering 
of sections. 

Ratio and Proportion. 

See former work. Barrel and cubic foot compared. Ratio 
of square and circle. Sphere and cube compared. These points 
mav be shown objectively at first. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 203 

Percentage. 

Per cent, of last month's attendance of the school. Interest. 
Here the New Practical Arithmetic is to be consulted in respect 
to finding the interest at rates other than six per cent. Notes — 
fact, partial payment become familiar terms to the pupils. 

Conclusion. 

The work of the term is closed by a summary through the 
cefinitions, principles, rules, and tables. One who has followed 
the work will have observed that the pupil has been at work a 
long time doing the thing before principles and definitions ar.^ 
stated in full Not every thing that may be done in any of me 
departments of the subject is forced upon him at once. All 
points are given their fuller meaning by gradual growth and in 
a way that seems to keep pace with his developing powers. 

SECOND TERM. 

Werner, Book III. Pages ii to 120. 

The pupil is now far enough along to profit by a topical ar- 
rangement of the matter in arithmetic. As in past work the 
teacher should observe most carefully the suggestions of the au- 
thor both at the opening of the book and in the notes on the 
pages as the subject progresses. The work in algebra, geometry 
and miscellaneous problems embracing these subjects is omitted 
the first time over the book. All the fundamental operations 
deal with quantities having fractions, decimals, and denominate 
numbers in them.. All principles are to be carefully fixed by 
drills. See that no principle is violated. The fruits of the ear- 
lier teaching should show here in the readiness with which pupils 
can see and apply principles. 

As a separate topic fractions come in for a full share of at- 
tention treating of the parts of the subject that could not well be 
treated in the fundamental operations. Great care should be 
given to accuracy in all the operations from the beginning. 

THIRD TERM. 

The time is to be spent upon the further cievelopment of the 
topics of percentage. In addition to the extension of operations 
introduced in former terms new topics are taken up. Taxes, in- 



204 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

surance, stocks and bonds now come in for a share in the study. 
The work laid out in the text taken as a guide is to be freely 
supplemented with material from other arithmetics at hand that 
may be given the pupil whenever the treatment of a topic seems 
to demand more attention than the book in hand gives it. In 
this way the class may have a full discussion from new and fresh 
material. A general survey of the ground that has been trav- 
ersed should be taken at the end of the year. This is not a for- 
mal review, but rather a new view to see how much more topics 
that have once been laid aside have in them when the pupil looks 
at them again with his later knowledge at his command. 

Geography. 

Fifth Grade — Class Entering in the Spring. 
Picturesque Geographical Reader, ' Second Book, King. 

I-I20. 

Full year classes had the work indicate 1 in the following 
outline: 

Fifth Grade — Section B. 
First Term. 
Werner's Introductory. 7-70. 

Second Term — Class Now Fifth A, 5-A. 
Werner's Intruductory. 59 — 122. 

Third Term— 5-A. 
Our World and Its People — Our Own Country. 11-88. 
Fifth Grade — Section A. 
First Term. 
Our World and Its People — Our Own Country. 102 — fin- 
ished. 

Second Term — Class Now Sixth C, 6-C. 
Tarr and McAIurray's First Book. 1-124. 

Third Term — 6-C. 
Tarr and McMurry's First Book. 124-195. Much supple- 
mentary work was done, using Carpenter's North American and 
similar helps. 

Sixth Grade — Section C. 
First Term. 
Picturesque Geographical Reader, King, Book II. 90 302. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 205 

Second Term — Class Now Sixth B, 6-B. 
Tarr and McMurry's Second Book. 1-76. 

Third Term — 6-B. 
Tarr and McMurry's Second Book. 76-156. 
Sixth Grade — Section B. 
First Term. 
Carpenter's Geographical Reader — North American. 9-143. 
Second Term — Class Now Sixth A. 6-A. 
Same as previous term. 143-352. 

Third Term. — 6-A. 

Our World and Its People — Modern Europe. 13-132 

Si^^th Grade — Section A, Division 2, 

First Term. 

Carpenter's Geographical Reader — Asia. 9-154. 

Second Term — Class Now Seventh, Division 2. 
Same as previous term. 154-301. 

Third Term — D 2. 
Werner's Grammar School. 1-156. 

Sixth Grade — Section A, Division i. 
First Term. 
Modern Europe, Our World and Its People. 13-213. 

Second Term — Class Now Seventh, Division i. 
Same as previous term. 213 and finish. 

Third Term. D i. 
Werner's Grammar School. 1-15O. 

Language. 

Fifth Grade — Class Entering in the Spring. 
DeGarmo, Book I. 9-45. 

The following classes were in the school all the year and 
the work is indicated for each class each ter)n throughout the 
year. 

Fifth Grade — Section B. 
First Term. (5-B). 
DeGarmo, Book I. 9-40. 



'206 IOWA STATK NORMAL SCHOOL. 

Second Term. Xow Fifth A, 5- A. 
DeGarmo, Book I. 40-75. 

Third Term. (5-A). 
DeGarmo, Book I. 75-122. 

Fifth Grade — Section A. 
First Term. 
DeGarmo, Book I. 108-141. 

Second Term — Now Sixth C, 6-C. 
DeGarmo, Book II. 1-45. 

Third Term— (6-C). 
DeGarmo, Book II. 44-65. Six weeks given to taking a 
new view of the pages from 9 to 65 substituting the Story of the 
Gorgon's Head as a foundation for the composition work in- 
stead of what was previously used from the book. 

Sixth Grade — Section C. 
First Term. 
DeGarmo, Book II. 1-74. 

Second Term — Now Sixth B. 6-B. 
DeGarmo, Book II. 77-120. 

Third Term — (6-B). 
DeGarmo, Book II. 73-119 reviewed thoroughly. Compo- 
sitioa work was based on Scudder's Life of Washington. Out- 
lines placed on charts and pupils wrote from these after hearing 
the fitory read but once. j\Iuch outside work done in figurative 
language, tense, voice of verb, adjective. Good results. 

Sixth Grade — Section B. 
First Term. 
DeGarmo, Book 11. 77-143. 

Second Term — Class Now Sixth A, 6-A. 
DeGarmo, Book II. 146-184. 

Third Term — (6-A). 
DeGarmo, Book II. 9-90. This re\iew was taken bv 
topic s and all the composition work was based on new classics 
outside the book. The book used as a guide and the work se- 
lected to make the class more familiar with difficult points. 



IOWA STATE NOUMA.L SCHOOL. 207 

Sixth Grade — Section A, Division 2. 
First Term. 
DeGarmo, Book II. Reviewed by use of summaries and 
by topics. Much supplementary work done. 1-168. 

Second Term — Class Now Seventh, D 2. 
DeGarmo, Book II. Finished and Brown and DeGarmo's 
Grammar, 1-47. 

Third Term — D 2. 
Brown and DeGarmo's Grammar. 48-118. 

Sixth Grade — Section A, Division i. 
First Term. 
DeGarmo, Book II. Reviewed by summaries to 150. Fin- 
ished and reviewed from page 150. 

Second Term. D i. 
Brown and DeGarmo's Grammar. \ T-62. 

Third Term. D i. 
Brown and DeGarmo. Reviewed from 48 and extended to 

ISO- 
Reading. 

Three terms' work for each class designated, but the grade 
is changed at the end of the first term, or sometimes the grade 
and letter indicating the section are both changed. Numbers 
refer to pages. 
Fifth Grade — Section Entering at the Opening of Spring Term. 

Anderson's Stories having been started before entering the 
book was continued and .finished. 

Half the term on Short Stories of Our Shy Neighbors. 7, 
22, 29, 30, 36, 40, 41, 50, 56, 79, 122, 129, 158, 92, 67, 108, 84, 
98, 103, 114, 143, 168, 175, 164, 131, 135. 

The following classes were in all year and the work of each 
is shown consecutively by terms. 

Fifth Grade — Section G. 
First Term. 

Short Stories of Our Shy Neighbors. 7, 30, 36, 40, 50, 61, 
67, 98, 103, 108, 114, 122, 129, 131, 135, 138, 143, 149, 180-214. 



208 IOWA STATK NORMAL SOUOOL. 

Second Term. 
(Class now becomes section A of fifth grade.) 
Anderson's Stories. 32, 13, 97, 48, 79, 87, 92, 

Third Term. 
American History Stories, Book III., (Mara Pratt.) 
Entire book. Much of the work correlated with their geog- 
raphy. 

Fifth Grade — Section A. 
First Term. 
Heart of Oak, Book HI. 1-109. 

Second Term — (Class Now Sixth, Section C, 6-C.) 
Heart of Oak, Book HI. Six chapters of the Story of Ulys- 
ses were read and at Christmas time, A Visit from St. Nicholas, 
12, and A Christmas Carol, 144. 

Third Term. 6-C. 
Stories and Poems for Children, Thaxter. 
Selections such as belong to the spring season excepting 
enough of a general nature to prevent monotony. 114, 155, 123, 
196, 171, 122, 170. 197, 127, 168, 62, 210, 205, 144, 217, 230, 255, 
242, 'J2, 251, 3, 132, 137, 201, 186, 243, 173, 151, 115, 163, 208, 
97> 181. 

Sixth Grade — Section C. 
First Term. 
Children's Hour. 11, 13. 50, 52, 142, 100, 75, 70, 48, 20, 187, 
and a few other short selections. 

Second Term. — (Class Now 6-B). 
Children's Hour. 55, 71, 39, 68, 104, 242, 119, 131, 78, 138, 
38, 141. 

Third Term. (6-B). 

Beginner's American History, Montgomery. First unit, 
I to 39. Class made maps showing the world at the time of Cul 
unibus and others tracing the discoveries and locating the set- 
tlements. Second unit, 39 to 68. Read Pilgrim Fathers in con- 
nection with this section and the teacher added stories relating 
to the period. Third unit, 68 to 91. A lesson on silk cultur-e 
was given in connection with the study of the settlement of 



IOWA STATE NOKMAL SCHOOL 209 

Georgia. Time was given to the study of Franklin and what he 
did for Philadelphia, the teacher presenting a map showing the 
city in Franklin's time and at the present time. 

Sixth Grade — Section B (6-B.) 

First Term, 

Grandfather's Chair. 1-66. Beginner's History, Mont- 
gomery. 1-80. 

Second Term — (Class Now 6-A.) 

Beginner's American History, Montgomery. 80-231. 

Third Term— (6-A.) 

The Land of Song, Book H. 42, 38. 13, 14, 15, 39, 180, 202, 
40, 131, 179. In geography the class was studying England 
which with the season determined the early part of the term's 
reading. Scotland was the next geography study. The teacher 
told the story of the Lady of the Lake and read many passages 
from the poem to the class, using a map of Scotland prepared by 
herself to make the scene clear to the class. Children read in 
recitation time, 200, 216, 64. Review of the Life of Sir Walter 
the relating of the story and reading oi the poem, Tam O'Shan- 
ter, by the teacher. Class then read 69, 153, 37. Sketch of Life 
of Burns given. 

Sixth Grade — Section A, Division 2. 
First Term. 
Heart of Oak, Book IV. Vanity Fair. (Two weeks.) 
Grandmother's Story and Other Poems. 80, 58, 29, 52, 54, 

8, 51, 49, 70. 

Second Term. 

(Seventh Grade Now. D 2.) 
Snow Bound, Tent on the Beach and Other Selections. 
Five weeks: 243, 246, 231, 236, 239, 228. Seven weeks: 
Snow Bound. 

Third Term. (D 2). 

Heart of Oak, Book IV. 1-8, 64-80, 127-209, 216-217, 220- 
246, 269, with selections to the end of the book. 



210 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

Sixth Grade — Section A, Di\-ision i. 
First Tenii. 
Beginner's American History, Montgomery. 175 to end. 
(Two weeks.) 

Heart of Oak. Book I\". 1-104. ^11-^-4. omitting selec- 
tions on 7S and 21S. 

Second Term — t^Xow Seventli, D i.) 
Heart of Oak. Book IW 109-1 iS, 128-209. 224-294. 

Third Term. (D i.) 
Seven American Classics. 44-75. S7-114. 133-146. 169-21S. 

Spelling. 

Fifth Grade — Class Entering" in the Spring. 

Morse Speller. 30-42. 

Fifth Grade — Section B. 
First Term. 

Morse Speller. 30-44. 

Morse Speller. 44-55. Second Tenn. 5-A. 

Third Term. 5-A. Reviewed 30-42. 

First Term. 5-A. Morse. 44-55. 

Second Term. 6-C. Selections from readers, geographies, 
aritlmietics, and language, one subject being fallowed for a week 
at a time. 

Third Term. 6-C. ^lorse. 56-70. , 

First Term. 6-C. :Morse. 74-S8. 

Second Term. 6-B. With 6-C this tenn. 

Third Term. 6-B. With 6-C again. 

First Term. 6-B. Morse. loS-iii. And selections from 
the Beginner's History. 

Second Term. 6-A. \\'ith 6-C. 

Third Term. 6-A. Same as 6-C. 

First Term. 6-A. Selections from Carpenter's Asia. 

Second Term. Seventh. D 2. Selections from reader. 
geog"raphy. arithmetic, and language. One week given to eacii 
subject each month. 

Third Term. Seventh D 2 Rational Speller 63-77. 

First Tenn. 6-A. D i. Reed's Word Book. 1-69. 

Second Term. Seventh D i. Reeds Word Book. 6>93 

Third Tenn. Seventh D i. Same as D 2 



IOWA STATK NORMAL SCHOOL. 211 

Drawing. 

(Grades fifth and sixth, and a part of the seventh a short 
time.) 

Second Term. 
Sixth-A and Seventh-D 2 
I, Picture study. 

I. Foreground. 2. Background. 3. Middleground. 
4. Matting. 

Pictures used for study: .Shepherds, Lark, Gleaners, and 
pictures from, "How to Enjoy Pictures." 

II. An application of this work was made in drawing scenes 
from Snowbound, The Huskers and other poems from Whittier. 
Also from the woiks of Lucy Larcom. The Brook, by Tenny- 
son. Washington's Home. 

in. Grouping: Objects arranged so as to express thought 
and then the drawing of these. Stress upon the necessity of 
unity. 

IV. Posing: Child posing and class drawing. Effect of 
lines emphasized. 

Sixth-B and C, and Fifth-A. 

Some attempt at correlation of reading and geography with 
the drawing. Also a study of standard pictures was made. 

Ground covered. 

An average of two drawings per week from the reading and 
geography subjects. Old Clock on the Stairs — Longfellow, and 
The Brook — Tennyson, were illustrated. A number of pictures 
representing bodies of water, mountains, hills, streams, valleys, 
&c., were made. 

The last month was given to composition. A black water 
color wash and brush were used. Children posed for others to 
draw. Class had in mind a shadow thrown -.ipon a white curtain. 

Picture study: 

Picture before the pupils and viewed from its artistic values, 
proportion, grouping of objects, massing of colors, and light 
and shade. Other points incidentally taken up. The story of 
the pictures was told and a short sketch of the artist given. 

Pictures studied: Baby Stuart, The Madonna of the Chair, 



212 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

Spring-, The Shepherdess with Sheep, The Lark, The Gleaners, 
The Sistine Madonna. 

Third Term. 

Entire school of fifth and sixth grades divided into two 
sections this term and thirty minutes to each section each day 
Better results in this way. The work in illustrating carried for- 
ward. Picture study was begun about the fourth or fifth week. 

Selection illustrated: 

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. The Swallow and I, The 
Rainy Day, The Ship of State, The Brook in the Hollow, The 
Old Oaken Bucket, The Merrj^ Brown Thrush. 

A drawing of Lincoln's birthplace, outside sketches of 
neighborhood barns, a waste basket, bird's nest, &c., comprise 
the studies for the other lessons. 

Pictures studied: 

The jMeeting- — Bashkirtseff, Return to the Farm — Troyon, 
The Hay Harvest — Jules Bastien — Lepage, Landscape. 

Music. 

Third Term. 
All the sections of the sixth grade in one class and all the 
fifth in the other. 

Sixth Grades. 
Book: Choice Songs — Fullerton. 

Attention to the keys in flats as the class had sharps in t>e 
previous term. Reviewed dift'erent keys near the close of che 
term. 

Teacher told the class of the composer McDowell and re- 
viewed with them the life of Schubert that was given the term 
beiore. Also gave them an account of the May Festival at Alt. 
\ ernon as a means of creating interest in musical aft'airs. 
Class of songs used: 

1. Of Children's Play. 

The Shell, The Tomtit, Soldier's Song, Sandman, Sac. 

2. Spring and Summer. 

Away, Among the Flowers, In the Alonth of May, In Sum- 
mer, I'.irdie's Burial, &c. 

3. Hunting Songs. 

The Hunter, Hunter's Song. 



IOWA STATK NORMAL SCHOOL. 213 

4. Patriotic Songs. 

Aaierica, Iowa, and Iowa Beautiful Land. 
Fifth Grades. 
Book same as other grades. 
Theory. 

I. Reasons for sharps. 2. Nature of minor scale and 
why so called. 
' Drills. 

Natural Music Chart. 
Numbers: i, 3, 5, 4, 6, 8. 
Selections used in class. 
Little Maud with Cheeks so Fair; The Little Brother; Soon 
Whiter Will Be Over; Two Part Round; Dancing Song; Holy 
Night; Silent Night; The Herd Boy's Song; The Guardian 
Angel; O Come, Come Away; Sea Horses; The King; Old 
Barbosa; Sleep, Baby Sleep; Wake Up Little Maud. 

Penmanship. 

All Grades. 
Position, pen-holding, exercises for freedom of movement 
and skill in use of hand and arm. 

General. 

Physiology is studied at some time in the year in class by 
each pupil and from text book. By means of general exercises 
the subject is kept in view at other times. 

Much work has been done in general exercises in the study 
of current topics and in committing extracts from the best grades 
of literature. 

The pupils above the seventh grades are divided into three 
classes known as C, B, A, the last of these designating the high- 
est class in the school. The work of these classes is indicated 
in the class group by terms instead of a subject arrangement as 
was done with the lower grades. 

Class C. 
First Term. 

Arithmetic: Hall, Werner, Book HI. 7-144. 

History: Leading Facts in American History, Montgom- 



214 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

ery. 1-139. This was supplemented with the Story of the Thir- 
teen Colonies for the same period. 

Grammar: Southworth and Goddard. Reviewed 126-155. 
To 227. 

Geography: Werner's Grammar School 175-259. 

Latin: First Latin Book, C and D. Two sections in this 
work. 

Reviewed 1-64. To 94. 
Reviewed 1-42. To 61. 

German: Conversational and the Eclectic Primer. 

Spelling: Reed's Word Book. 1-70. 

Second Term. 

Arithmetic: Werner, Book IIL 144-240. Second section 
231. 

History: Montgomery, Leading Facts. 149-265. 
Story Thirteen Colonies. 214-326. 
Story of Great Republic. 13-147. 
Grammar: Southworth and Goddard. 231-300. Finished. 
Geography: Werner's Grammar School. 259-351. Fin- 
ished. 

Latin: First Latin Book. 94-134. 

First Latin Book. 61-120. 
German: Primer finished. Erstes Lesebuch. 1-27. 
Spelling: Reed's Word Book. Lessons 70-135. 
Third Term. 

Arithmetic: Werner, Book IIL 231-256. Rich's Practical 
1-82. Second section 1-63. 

History: Montgomery's Leading Facts. 256 to close. Sto- 
ry of the Great Republic. 148 to close. Library work also. 

English: Buehler's Exercises. . Completed. 

Physiology: Baldwin's Essentials. Completed. 

Latin: First Latin Book. 134-190. 
First Latin Book. 120-172. 

German: Erstes Lesebuch. 27-84 in reading. 85-102 in 
grammar exercises with outside supplementary matter. 

Spelling: New Business Speller. Lesson 1-25. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 215 

Class B. 
First Term. 

Arithmetic : 

Wentworth's Grammar School. 199-247. 

English : American Classics, Longfellow and Whittier ( Ex 
cept Songs of Labor). 

Latin: First Latin Book. Reviewed i-iio. To 125. 

Physiology: Overton's Advanced. 9-192. 

History: Story of the Romans, Guerber. Completed. 

German: With Class C. 
Second Term. 

Arithmetic: Wentworth's Grammar School. 247-292. Cor- 
responding parts of Rich's Practical. 

English: Classics. Selections from Whittier. 49-73 sup- 
plemented with other poems from Whittier. Selections from 
Lowell. 1-92. 

Physiology: Overton's Advanced. 192-400. 

History: Story of the English, Guerber. Completed. 

Latin: First Latin Book. 125-193. 

German: With other class as in previous term. 
Third Term. 

Algebra: Wentworth's New School. 1-85. 

English: Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Latin: Gradatim. 
1-62. 

U. S. History: Gordy, Entire book and supplemented with 
library work. 

German: Same as "C" class. 

Spelling: Same as "C" class. 

Class A. 
First Term. 

Algebra: Wentworth's New School. Reviewed 1-107. To 
174. 

English: Composition and Rhetoric. Mead. 9-120 and cor- 
responding exercises. 

General History: Myers. 1-222. 

Civics: Seerley and Parish. 9-136. Latin: (i). Junior 
Latin Book. Caesar. 



2]^(5 IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

Books I. and II. (2). Gradatim. 111-125 and Junior Latin 
Book. To 57. 

German: Same as "B" class. 

Second Term. 

Algebra: Wentvvorth. 169-254. 

English: Composition and Rhetoric, Mead. 120-192 an-', 
the required exercises. 

General History: Myers. 222-512. 

Civics: Seerley and Parish. 136-281. 

Latin: (i). Junior Latin Book. Completed. 

(2). Junior Latin Book. Completed Viri Romae 
Life of Caesar. Caesar Book II. and Book I. to Paragraph 7. 

German: Same as "B" class. 
Third Term. 

Algebra: Wentworth. 251-316, 352-364. 

EngUsh: Brief history of periods of English Literature 
from Shakespeare to present with critical study of typical selec- 
tions. Also study of selections from Whittier. 

General History: Myers. 513 to close. 

Civics: Same text as before. 281 to end with supplementary 
work on the constitution, comparisons of state and national gov 
ernment. 

Latin: (i). Cicero. Orations against Cataline, i, 2, and to 
section 9 in the third. One lesson per week ]n Latin prose. 

(2). Junior Latin Book. Caesar, Book I. finished. Selec 
tions from Viri Romae and one lesson per week in Latin prose. 

German: Same as "B" class. 

Music: Note reading, songs and some chorus work. All 
pupils take music. 

Penmanship: Drills for all. 

1 16.— PREPARATORY. 

I. List of Text Books Used in the Preparatory School. 

Arithmetic: The New Practical. — Rich. 

Reader: Masterpieces of American Literature. 

Geography: Frye's Complete. 

Physiology: Physiology for High Schools. — Macy. 



IOWA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 217 

Grammar: Elements of Composition and Grammar— 
Southworth and Goddard. 

United States Ilistory: Leading Facts of .\merican History 
— Montgomery. 

Speller: Morse. 

2. — Brief Outline of Work by Terms. 

The pages refer to the corresponding text named above. 
Where groups of pages are given, as in reading, the work is to 
be taken in the order suggested by the order in which the pages 
are put into the list. 

First Term Class. 

Arithmetic: 13-67. Reading: 1-31,65-80,87-117,127-156. 

Geography: 1-73. Grammar: 77-126, 15-36. Spelling: 

65-99, with the review exercises indicated to go with these pages. 

Second Term Class. 

Arithmetic: 68-132. Reading: 366-462. (Six weeksl. 
117-126. 37-40.46-59. 

Geography: 75-175. Iowa Geography with a review of 
North America. 

Grammar: 126-218. History: 1-194. 

Third Term Class. 

Arithmetic: 133-222. Reading: 270-284, 285-309. 80-83, 
217-237, 156-160, 238-270. 

Physiology: Entire book. Grannuar: 219-300. Historv: 
195-405. 

Note. — The order in which the topics are named for each 
class is the order of the program of recitations beginning with 
the first period in the morning and continuing until 12:15. 



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